link restart
by champion lyra
Summary: For so long, he'd thought he'd finally broken out of his shackles. No longer had he been tied down to the Lost Incident. No longer had he been solely driven by revenge. But now, climbing up the stairs to his apartment, he could feel the chains dragging him back down. Down to where Ai was, lost and alone. Or: Episode 111 ended very, very differently.
1. link short

**Notes**

Well, I wasn't expecting to be getting this out until _December_, but change of plans! Normally I don't like to upload multichaptered stories unless I have everything (or most of everything) prewritten, because I myself hate not knowing if the next chapter is ever coming, lmao. However, I have so many things to write, and the more I sat on this (I'm halfway into the second chapter, now), the more I realized I wanted to have this _out_. To help encourage me to write the rest. So here we are!

Couple of notes before we begin:  
This starts on **Episode 111, and diverges from there. **This is not to say I was unhappy with how S3 progressed! I actually really enjoyed the season and the way Vrains ended, but I have had this idea in my head since the episode aired back in July, and it refused to leave lmao.

**This does feature ships**, but they won't really be the main focus, so if you don't like certain ships, you probably can still read this no problem.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! Notes about an upload schedule are at the end.

* * *

"You know," Ai mused, watching Blue Maiden and Akira breathe heavily on the ground as they reached for each other's hands, "I was _going _to delete you, but I think I have a better idea."

Instantly, everyone in the room in on edge - even Playmaker, Revolver, and Soulburner, who weren't physically present can feel themselves tense. So far, all of Ai's ideas had been cruel, and unusually so. It was not something Playmaker had ever expected from the Ignis that he created, but he supposed a lot had changed since they had first come into contact with each other that fateful day.

It was still a tough pill for him to swallow, though, as he watched Ai make his way towards the Zaizen siblings.

With a snap of his fingers, Blue Maiden suddenly disappeared from in front of them, but not in the way that they had expected. Her data wasn't gone, it didn't sink into Ai's duel disk or anything of the sort. Her body just disappeared entirely, leaving Akira shaking even more than he was before.

"What did you do to her." It was a question, but Akira's voice was a hard line. "What did you do to Aoi!"

His words reverberated off the walls around them, and though Playmaker was not there, not really, he winced. The anger and desperation were clear in his voice, and he watched as Akira scrambled to push himself up to confront Ai face to face.

Ai, however, didn't even flinch. The cold smile that had been sitting on his face didn't budge, and instead, he shrugged, as if it weren't a big deal at all. "She was Aqua's partner, as she was just so politely telling me," he said, locking eyes with the older Zaizen. "I want my friends back. It's a no brainer, really."

Next to Playmaker, Revolver froze. In an instant, they both had ideas of what that could possibly mean, and neither of them liked the sound of that. Though Soulburner didn't quite catch on, he still glared helplessly anyways. Not one of them was enjoying this show.

Akira's eyes, too, narrowed. "What do you mean?" By the sound of it, Akira had put the pieces together, too.

This time, Ai did shift himself, moving his weight from one foot to the other slowly. "Miyu Sugisaki would've been preferable," he said with a sigh, "but she doesn't seem to like showing up in AiLand, and sneaking her out of the hospital sounds like too much work. So Blue Maiden will do."

All at once, everyone stopped breathing. None of them needed to, really, in Link VRAINS; it was a force of habit that their bodies weren't comfortable stopping. In that moment, however, none of them seemed to want to start again.

From beside Playmaker, Revolver curled his gloved hands into fists, gripping so tightly Playmaker could practically see the fake fabric tightening around them. "Don't you dare, Dark Ignis." His words were dark, voice a thousand degrees colder than the arctic. "Don't you even _think _about it."

Ai's eyes shifted over to Revolver, his smile growing wider as Roboppy stood behind him, watching in mild curiosity as they bounced on their feet. "Oh?" Playmaker could barely believe that voice was coming from Ai. It was almost cruel. Far too calculated. His own hands turned into fists at his side at the sound. "I thought you regretted stopping that incident, so long ago. Well, no matter," he said with a shake of his head. "I got both of what I came here for."

Turning away from his former allies with a swish of his cape, Ai snapped his fingers. Before Playmaker, Revolver, and Soulburner could return to themselves, however, they all heard Akira scream.

"_Give her back!" _echoed through their ears as they were placed back in the room they'd started in.

* * *

As soon as he was able, Soulburner slammed himself onto his knees, fists hitting the ground hard. Playmaker couldn't blame him. He was still in a bit of shock himself, but the anger was beginning to set in.

Ai. His partner. The AI he himself had created, through his own dueling. His own thoughts, and weaknesses. The one constant at his side throughout the last nine months; even counting when he had let him go that first time, after the Tower of Hanoi. Part of him always knew he'd see Ai again, and when he did, he didn't even question it. They were connected, somehow, and it _hurt_. It hurt to know that he had failed Ai, that the reason this was happening is because he wasn't strong enough on his own to defeat Bohman. If he had only dueled a little better, played a little harder, _maybe _the other Ignis wouldn't have had to sacrifice themselves. Maybe Ai would still have his friends. Wouldn't have turned into… whatever he had turned into, now.

Even knowing that, though, the anger was still bubbling up. Recreating the Lost Incident… he had said that was his goal in no uncertain terms, and by the look on Revolver's face, he was already figuring out a game plan to stop him as soon as possible.

"Playmaker," Revolver's voice broke through his thoughts, and Playmaker turned to face the masked avatar. "We will not show the Dark Ignis mercy." _We cannot_. Though they weren't spoken aloud, Playmaker heard them clear as day.

His throat tightened as he forced himself to nod. He knew, deep in his bones, that Revolver was right. It was one thing, to attack Queen and take her keys. It was another thing to keep the consciousness data of their allies, who had gotten in his way to Akira Zaizen. Those things, they were excusable if there was truly a good reason. One Playmaker would have been willing to hear.

It was something else to use Judgment Arrows, against the very people that he had fought with last time around against that very same card.

And it was another thing entirely to attempt to recreate the very incident that had scarred his previous partner for his entire life.

From on the ground, the sound of Soulburner's fists hitting the ground reverberated around them. "_Dammit_." He didn't yell, but it was close to it. "Damn it all to hell! How could he do this?"

Soulburner's question is what Playmaker had been asking himself since the duel between Blue Maiden, Akira, and Ai had started. How could he do this? He knew, exactly, what the Lost Incident had done to all of them. He'd seen Jin, in his crippled state; only recovering because he had lost all his memories of the event. He'd heard what had happened to Windy's origin - dead, completely, forever lost to the world because of what he had been involved in without consent.

More so than all of that, he had heard Yusaku's cries every night. He had sat through hours of Yusaku refusing to go back to sleep, being unable to do anything but sit in bed and try to breathe properly again, night after night after night. All because of that incident. It had gotten better, during the fights against Windy and Lightning and Bohman, yes, but to think that Ai would've up and _forgotten_was impossible.

To think that even though he had that knowledge, that even though he had once been adamant about his desire to coexist with humans, he'd still go that far…

"We need to log out," Playmaker finally said, forcing himself to say the words. "We need to find Miyu and Jin." Kusanagi had been so devastated last time, when Lightning had taken his brother. He wouldn't let it happen again.

Soulburner, from on the ground still, logged out without a word. Revolver nodded once, following suit, leaving Playmaker alone.

In the blank room, alone for the first time in what felt like weeks of chasing Ai around, Playmaker let himself scream into his hands. The world could wait a few minutes for him before logging out.

* * *

Stepping out of his VR room in the truck, Yusaku took a moment to catch his breath. He hadn't been the one dueling for most of it, besides an honestly unimpressive duel against one of Ai's clones, but the emotional impact had been staggering. Still a thousand thoughts flew through his head - how could they protect Miyu and Jin? Would Ai go after others? Who would he use in place of Windy? - and no matter what he did he knew he wasn't going to be able to force them out.

"Yusaku," Kusanagi greeted, looking a little worse for wear. "Takeru left before you. Said he needed some space."

Though part of Yusaku worried over his friend, he understood and would not go after him. The idea of Takeru getting taken, while it was obviously something they would have to deal with at some point, was not a large concern right now. Even without Flame, he had his Salamangreat deck, and was an incredibly strong duelist.

He hoped that logic wouldn't bite him later on.

Slumping into his normal chair, Yusaku looked at Kusanagi. "You should secure Jin," he said, thinking through all the possibilities. If he knew Ai, which he was beginning to doubt he ever did at all, he would wait and give them all fair warning once again. He wasn't that cruel. He hoped. "And I'm sure Ryoken knows where Miyu is."

Though Ai already had Blue Maiden, there was still the possibility he'd decide she wasn't suitable enough for the role and take Miyu instead. Aqua had been born from her, but also had been born from Miyu's wishes to meet Aoi again, after all. He might deem that they were both necessary as well.

Kusanagi nodded, already getting up to move into the driver's seat of the truck. "Buckle up," he told Yusaku, motioning for him to join. "Text Takeru. We'll be on our way to the hospital in a minute."

* * *

They arrived at the hospital quickly. Takeru had not responded to Yusaku's message, but he wasn't in the state of mind to think too heavily on that right now. Takeru could, at the very least, take care of himself. Yusaku wasn't convinced that he'd be able to defeat Ai should he go after him, but at least he'd be able to hold his own until help arrived. Fighting a duel at a 2000 LP deficit would mean nothing it it ensured Takeru's safety.

Before they could even go inside the hospital, however, a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Surpr-_Ai_-sed to see me?"

Yusaku's blood ran cold. A voice, a pun that would've once made him relaxed to hear - though he'd never admit it to anyone - now had his body tensing, preparing for fight or flight. "Ai," he said evenly, not turning around from the hospital doors. "Stop this."

"Tsk, tsk," Ai scolded, but the previously almost playful tone was gone. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

Keeping his eyes trained on the bland doors so he wouldn't turn around, Yusaku frowned deeply. "Why?"

"Wh-_Ai_? Why should I?" Yusaku could barely believe the anger that he heard bubbling under the surface in those words, despite the pun. He'd seemed so scornful during his duel with the Zaizen siblings, but he'd been provoked, then. To hear him sound like that right now… it hurt more than he was expecting it to. "I won't stop. Not until my friends are back."

"Don't take him, Ai," Kusanagi pleaded, and Yusaku nearly jumped. When Ai was speaking to him like that, it was like they were the only two in the area. "Please. _Please_," he begged, and Yusaku couldn't help but turn to look at his face. It was broken. Even when they'd been forced to duel, not that long ago, Kusanagi kept on a tough face. Now, though, all bets were off. "He's been through enough. He's only just starting to heal."

Yusaku finally allowed himself to look at Ai. To _really _look at his partner, and take him in. The new body was clearly of his own design, but Yusaku could spot some of himself in it - in the way his hair parted, in the angles it stood. A wave of nausea hit him hard, then, but he kept his face expertly schooled.

Shaking his head, Ai sighed. "I can take you, if you'd prefer." He shrugged, placing a hand on his hip. "Your brothers. You'll do just fine."

The lack of puns proved the seriousness of his offer. Yusaku slowly moved his gaze back to Kusanagi, horrified to see that he was deep in thought. "You can't be serious." His usual monotone was strained, and his composure was starting to fade. Quickly. "Kusanagi, you _can't_."

"It's either him or Jin," Ai chimed in. Yusaku narrowed his eyes, hurt and angry and _confused_.

"I'll go," Kusanagi said, at the same time as Yusaku said, "_No_."

"_No,_" he repeated, a bit more forcefully. "I won't let Ai take you _or _Jin." His words were a hard line, and he hated how torn up his insides felt as Kusanagi shook his head. "_No_."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Kusanagi tried his hardest to give Yusaku a smile. It was supposed to be reassuring, Yusaku knew, but it looked more like a final goodbye. "If I go, Jin will be safe, and I know you can save me. I trust you."

Yusaku shook his head hard, feeling his mouth go dry. He wanted to say something, _anything_, to get Kusanagi to stay, but he already knew he'd lost this battle. He opened his mouth to try, but Kusanagi shook his head right back at him.

"I failed to protect Jin last time," Kusanagi said, "and with Lightning, too. I owe it to him as his brother. I can't let him go through this again."

"So it's settled, then," Ai said, clapping his hands twice. Yusaku barely even had time to process what Kusanagi had told him. "Off we go, then."

The world felt like it was spinning off axis as he watched Kusanagi walk towards Ai with his head held high. They weren't in Link VRAINS. They weren't just transported away instantly. Instead, Yusaku had to watch in painful real time as Kusanagi and Ai walked out of view, back out into Den City, until they were too far and had made too many turns for his eyes to track.

With mechanical movements, he dug out the extra van key Kusanagi had given him ages ago, heading into the back of the van. Once he was sitting down at his normal chair, Yusaku finally allowed himself to cry.

* * *

It was only 8 in the evening, but Yusaku was ready to sleep forever. It wasn't that dissimilar to when he had fought Kusanagi during the Ignis war, and that thought alone was enough to keep him in the van for longer than absolutely necessary.

He was just about to start his long walk back to his apartment when he realized that Takeru, still, had not texted him back.

_Shit_.

If Ai had already been going after Jin by the time they got to the hospital, the likelihood that he'd already found Takeru was far, far too high for Yusaku's liking.

Frantically, he pressed the call button, hoping beyond all hope that somehow, Takeru was fine, and that the only loss he'd have to deal with that night was what had already occurred. After the call went to voicemail, however, Yusaku's heart began to pick up pace inside his chest.

He couldn't lose Takeru, too.

Changing course, he started making his way towards Takeru's small apartment near Den City's town center; his legs burning with each step. When was the last time he'd eaten? When was the last time he'd had anything to drink? He couldn't remember.

None of that mattered, though. As long as his mind still functioned, he could function in Link VRAINS. In this day and age, his body could be repaired later. So he pushed through, trying his hardest to make it to Takeru's as fast as possible.

Yusaku had only been into to his friend's apartment once, but he knew the way by heart after the many times of dropping him off after a long day of fighting or finding clues in Link VRAINS. By the time he got there, though, he knew he'd already be too late.

It was a long walk from the hospital, and with Takeru still not answering his calls, there was no way Ai hadn't at least started dueling him already. He doubted Takeru would go without a fight, at the very least, but it wasn't any consolation. The best he could hope for was that Takeru had pulled through and beaten him as easily as he had the Ai clones, but somehow, Yusaku knew that Ai was not truly trying during those duels.

As soon as he climbed up the stairs and saw Takeru's door hanging open, Yusaku fell to his knees. Any remaining adrenaline that had been keeping him going was gone, shooting out of him in an instant. He barely even felt the floor underneath him.

Takeru was not inside. Takeru's door had been left wide open, and there were no voices coming out of the apartment. No noises at all.

He tried, once more, to call Takeru, but it still rang and went to voicemail. Slowly, he stood up, and once he was at least somewhat steady on his feet, he made his way inside Takeru's apartment. This was wrong, all wrong, in Yusaku's mind. Taking inventory, though, he saw clear as day a letter with _Playmaker _scribbled on the outside.

It wasn't handwriting he recognized. Forcing down a gulp and with shaking hands, Yusaku opened the folded piece of paper.

_Dearest Playmaker_, the purple scribble read. _Sorry I couldn't tell you this in person, but Ai was a bit too fast getting to Soulburner. Come stop me. I'll be waiting in the network. Yours truly, Ai._

Without thinking, Yusaku crumpled the note in his fists. He almost wished that, if he stared at it long or hard enough, the paper would spontaneously combust, and he could continue pretending this was a bad dream.

"Ai," he whispered aloud to himself, sinking onto Takeru's kitchen chair, "why?"

* * *

The ring of Yusaku's cell phone startled him out of whatever stupor he'd put himself into. When he dropped the note that he'd been clutching onto, he realized that was the first time since he'd picked it up that he'd unclenched his fist.

He stood up to dig his phone out of his pocket, already knowing who the caller was before he answered. There was only one person left who knew his personal number, after all. "Ryoken."

"Fujiki," he answered easily. "I need an update."

_Oh_. Of course, Yusaku realized. It hadn't even been that long since they'd seen each other in the network, but he'd barely remembered why they'd logged out in the first place with the chaos of everything. "Jin is safe," he said, but the words felt like acid on his tongue. "But Kusanagi was taken. Takeru was, too."

Ryoken cursed over the line, and Yusaku couldn't help but agree with him. Even without counting his emotional outburst as a factor, this was not a good situation. The Lost Incident was nothing but suffering, and Ai knew that. To willingly put people he'd once called friends through it again, all to attempt to recreate his kind… it was something Yusaku had never even considered preparing for. Not even when Ryoken and Spectre had shown up at Cafe Nagi to tell them that they wouldn't just let Ai go free, despite everything. He'd been so ready, then, to fight for Ai. He would've gone to the ends of the earth to defend him.

He supposed it didn't matter, now.

There was a long pause over the line, before Ryoken heaved out a sigh. "I am aware we are not on the best of terms," he said, and Yusaku nearly scoffed. That wasn't his doing at all - any animosity between the two of them was entirely of Ryoken's own creation. "But we should regroup, and work together again. I think that is the only option we have."

"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?'" Yusaku quoted instead of giving a direct answer, recalling the last time Ryoken had requested they work together. Despite everything going on, he couldn't help the relief that flooded into his veins at the idea of working together with Ryoken once again.

This person, no matter what his thoughts were on Ai or anything of the sort, was still the person he wanted to see happy. Wanted to see free - from the chains of his past, and from himself. Ten years of wishing and wanting and _feeling _something for someone didn't just disappear in three months of no contact. They'd had practically _ten years _of no contact, and Yusaku's feelings and wants had never wavered. They'd changed, yes, but only just. No longer was it just wanting to save Ryoken; it was also wanting to be around him. Get to know him. Have the friendship they were robbed of as children.

"Something like that," Ryoken said wryly, and for the first time that night, Yusaku felt his body start to relax. "Zaizen wanted to meet with us in the network. We can formulate a plan from there."

The sooner they fixed this mess, the sooner Yusaku could sleep, he knew. And maybe, he'd never have to wake up. "I'll be on shortly."

If Ryoken noticed how hoarse he sounded, he didn't say anything. "I will send you the location details," was all he did say before hanging up.

_Right_, Yusaku thought. They couldn't even go into Link VRAINS normally to have these sorts of discussions anymore because of what Ai had done to the coding. The only places that were safe were the ones carved out by Ryoken or Akira themselves.

He sunk back into the chair, cupping his face with his hands as he exhaled. Sleeping - and never waking up again - was sounding better and better as this went on.

* * *

"Playmaker," Akira greeted him with a nod. "Thank you for coming."

Playmaker just shrugged. Most of his energy was still drained from the events of the day. In all honesty, it was a miracle he was even there. His only driving force at the moment was the prospect of getting everything back to normal again.

Even if _normal _for him wasn't really a true normal.

Revolver, from next to Akira, stared at him long and hard before finally forcing his gaze back to the older Zaizen. "I'm assuming you're already aware of how dire the situation is," he said, eyes narrowed. "I have no doubt that our combined forces would be enough for the Dark Ignis itself, but we are short on manpower."

Even at the mention of Ai, Playmaker said nothing.

"I know I have not been," Akira paused for a moment, trying to gather his words. "The most helpful in the past, but I _am _skilled with computers. I can be of some help."

They didn't need to ask why he'd be willing to help them. His screams of _give her back _still echoed painfully in Playmaker's mind, serving as yet another reminder of how far things had already gone.

Revolver nodded. "Better than nothing," he agreed. "However, I am still concerned about the lack of firepower, so to speak."

Playmaker knew what he meant. All of their other duelists - Blue Maiden, Soulburner, Spectre, Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd - were gone. He and Revolver were among the strongest, but that meant nothing when Ai could make clones of himself to overpower them or distract them for days on end. And that wasn't even considering Roboppy, who had taken out Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd already.

There was one other thing they hadn't touched on yet, however. "Who is Ai using in place of Windy's origin?"

His voice was rougher than usual, and the words were quiet, but both Akira and Revolver stilled at them. Though it was over a decade ago now, Playmaker could kind of remember the child from back then. When they'd all been taken to the Den City hospital, he'd gone and asked every single one if they had heard a voice, or had spoken to another person during their imprisonment. Jin hadn't been able to respond, but the other children all had.

None of them had been spoken to, or spoken to anyone. Windy's origin, Playmaker remembered, had looked upset at the prospect that he hadn't been spoken to, but Yusaku had. They had all been in such a vulnerable state, however, that he never really thought much about it, even as a child.

But knowing that child was now dead, he wondered how on earth Ai was going to replicate the Lost Incident without him.

"I will look into it." Revolver's words were firm, and left no room for debate. Playmaker decided that it was fine like that, anyways. As much as he wanted to care, as much as he wanted to try and deduce something helpful, he knew he did not have the mental capacity to do so at the moment. "That aside, for firepower, Pandor potentially can still help," he continued. "But I'm still unsure if that would be enough."

It was obviously a hard thing for either of them to admit - they were both so used to being capable of handling everything on their own. But the fact of the matter was that Ai could make clones. Ai still had Roboppy. And neither Revolver nor Playmaker was willing to let the other handle Ai alone, in fear of what the other might do.

Akira coughed into his hand. "If I may offer a suggestion." Two pairs of eyes moved to Akira's. "What about Sugisaki? She is recovering well, according to Aoi. I'm not sure about her abilities as a duelist, but I guarantee she would agree to help."

Almost instantly, Playmaker begin to shake his head no, but was stopped short by Ryoken. "Are you in contact with her?"

"No," Playmaker interrupted, insides swirling at the mere thought of getting her involved in this. "_No_. We can't ask her to do this."

Revolver's eyes narrowed again from under his mask, and he frowned deeply. "It's not as if this would be my first choice, either," he said, surprising Playmaker, "but weare out of options. We will not force her, but if she joins out of her own violation," Revolver trailed off, eyes leveling with Playmaker's green ones, "then so be it."

This was one of the worst ideas they'd ever had, and Playmaker had been involved in some terrible, terrible schemes since first coming into contact with Ai. It didn't sit right with him; using another victim of the Lost Incident in this way. Even _if _she agreed to help them, Miyu deserved to live her life out peacefully without getting dragged into this mess. She had already been put into a _coma _thanks to her status as Aqua's origin. If she was finally recovering properly, who were they to force her back into the thick of things?

Despite all that, despite the way his stomach was twisting in on itself, Playmaker knew that he wouldn't be able to persuade them out of this. There were really no other options, no other hacker or duelist they could count on. They had gathered very nearly, if not every capable duelist or hacker they knew, and almost all of them had been wiped out in one night.

He didn't agree, but he didn't push the subject any further; sinking more and more back into himself as Revolver and Akira discussed the details.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Revolver turned to him. "Playmaker," Revolver said, snapping him out of his own head for a moment, "are you able to meet me at Den City hospital in an hour, or would you require transportation?"

_Right_. Because with Kusanagi gone, he was on his feet when traveling anywhere in the real world. That didn't matter, though – he had just come from there. It wasn't a short walk, but he didn't care. "Yes," he said, words clipped and tense. "I will meet you there."

He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But he knew they didn't have another choice, not really. He could try to keep Miyu out of harm's way, potentially just fighting an Ai copy or something of the sort, if it came to that.

"Before you log out," Revolver cut in, looking him in the eyes, "do you think it's worth asking Jin, as well?"

Playmaker wanted to vomit. "No," he told the other boy honestly. Jin had only just started to recover, just started to be a real person. "No, I really don't."

"Will you permit me to ask him anyway?"

Revolver was not one to search for permission, and Playmaker felt himself buckle under the question. It was undeniable proof that he understood the gravity of both the situation at hand, and what asking Jin would mean. He didn't want to get Jin involved at all, not even a little bit. He really didn't even want Jin to _know_.

But that wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be fair. "Fine." His answer was clipped, and he averted his eyes as he replied. "But Jin will not accept." At least, he hoped he wouldn't.

* * *

After logging out, Yusaku put his face down onto the table and realized belatedly he wasn't even in his own apartment. He was still in Takeru's, which was, at the very least, a closer walk to the Den City hospital than his own apartment. That gave him a bit more time to himself, before he had to start the walk over.

Closing his eyes, Yusaku knew he wasn't in any danger of falling asleep. But for a bit, he could rest his eyes.

He was so, so tired.

* * *

"Thank you for meeting me here," Ryoken said, nodding his head in greeting. "Shall we head inside?"

"Not yet." Yusaku was trying, he really was, but he was exhausted. Every bone in his body creaked on the walk over from Takeru's empty home.

Blinking, Ryoken narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. Yusaku was glad for that. On the walk over, he had tried to come to terms with what they were about to do, about to ask, but he wasn't sure how much progress he'd truly made. He didn't really _want _to try and come to terms with this. He didn't really _want _to have to ask Miyu and _Jin_, of all people, to aid them in their mission because they had failed, initially. Failed to realize what Ai was after.

It still made Yusaku aggravated with himself that he hadn't been able to predict his former partner's motives. If anyone could've figured out Ai, it should've been him. He had let everyone down, and more so then that, put most of his allies - his _friends _\- into direct danger.

He gulped painfully, forcing himself to stay rooted in reality instead of letting his mind drift.

Ryoken cleared his throat, and Yusaku's eyes snapped over to his. "Would you like to hear a little bit about Sugisaki?" He asked, his tone wavering, but only just. "I did a bit of research on her before meeting you here."

Mechanically, Yusaku nodded. "Yes," he said. "Tell me everything."

Anything to stall what they were about to do. Anything to help ease his mind, if only just a little.

When Ryoken's lips turned upwards for a second, Yusaku felt his body relax a bit. "Very well," Ryoken said, before launching into what he knew about her.

As he listened to that voice, the same voice that had kept him sane in his most troubled of times, Yusaku let his shoulders sag and his jaw unclench. He hated what they were about to do, with every fiber of his being, but at least he was marching into hell with Ryoken.

* * *

However, standing in front of Miyu's hospital bed was another story. Once again, Yusaku desperately wished there was another solution. The longer they stood in front of her, saying nothing, the worse and worse the dread in the pit of his stomach got. They shouldn't be here. They shouldn't have to drag her into this mess - for the rest of time, she should be allowed to live a peaceful life. It was what he had thought when Akira had first dared to even mention it, and as much as he had tried to come to peace with it, he hadn't.

And from what Ryoken had told him, she _had _lived a good life. That was the worst part. She went to therapy regularly, yes, but she also had perfect attendance at school. She was in the swim club. She had _friends_. The idea that they had to rip her away from all of that, just because they were too weak to fix this on their own, made Yusaku want to throw up.

"You look familiar," Miyu said, staring hard at Ryoken after a few minutes of silence. "Akira told me I'd be getting some interesting visitors today, but I know you, don't I?"

Yusaku blanched. He had known that Ryoken had been _his _kidnapped, but had he been used to lure the other children, too? He looked over at his companion, who had also paled considerably, and watched as his Adams apple bobbed up and down slowly.

"My name is Ryoken Kogami," he said, and then he did something Yusaku never thought he would see. He _bowed_. "And I'm sorry, but I've come to ask you for a favor."

Yusaku moved his stunned gaze from Ryoken to Miyu, and decided he might as well, too. He moved his body into the uncomfortable position, fists tightening at his side.

"Who are you, though?" She pressed, and Yusaku could hear her shuffling around on the bed. "Stand up, you don't need to bow."

Both of them stood back up stiffly, not really knowing how to proceed. "I'm Yusaku Fujiki," Yusaku tried, completely at a loss. "I'm also Playmaker."

At that, Miyu's eyes lit up, and she placed her hands together in excitement. "Playmaker? You worked with Aoi, right? To save me before?"

_How much did Aoi tell her? _Yusaku wondered as he nodded. "We have something in common."

Almost instantly, the girl sobered, and she moved her eyes back to Ryoken. None of them said anything for a minute, and Yusaku let her process. Whatever Aoi had told her, and whatever she saw in Ryoken, she seemed to be putting puzzle pieces together. They were there to ask her for her life, more or less - the least they could do is let her make a fully informed decision.

The hands that had been up moved down to clutch the blanket that was on her lap. "You're the one who kidnapped me, right?" Her voice was soft, and she seemed to curl up in herself as she spoke. "But if you're Playmaker, you're like me. You were there too." Miyu paused, taking a breath, and Yusaku nodded in confirmation. "Why are you with him, then?"

All things considered, Miyu was handling the odd situation surprisingly well, Yusaku noted. However, he was not. His throat was dry at her words, and he honestly didn't even know where to begin. It had been easy, once upon a time, to explain to Takeru that Ryoken was the one that saved them all. That Ryoken was no more than a child when the Lost Incident had happened, and whether he followed his father or not, he was not to blame.

Now it seemed daunting, almost impossible. He didn't understand _why_. It wasn't at all like he blamed Ryoken for what had happened. His feelings on it were still the same. But something about staring into Miyu's frightened and confused eyes made him choke on his thoughts. "Ryoken saved us, back then," he said, words feeling like sandpaper against his throat. "He was the one who made that call."

"Did you help Aoi in Link VRAINS too, then?" Her fingers uncurled around the blanket, but only just. She was still protecting herself, but Yusaku could hear the curiosity in her tone.

With a heavy sigh, Ryoken nodded. "I am Revolver. I will answer any of your questions, but I ask in return that you hear out our request."

At his words, something in her demeanor changed as she looked between the two of them. Yusaku wasn't sure, again, exactly what Aoi had said to her before, but whatever it was, it made her sit up on her bed properly again, the blanket that she'd been using as a makeshift shield falling away from her.

"Aoi told me about both of you," Miyu said, smiling for the second time since they'd come in. "You both helped save me and Aoi before, so I guess I owe you." She sounded almost hesitant about it, but her smile didn't drop. "What can I do?"

Ryoken met Yusaku's gaze, and Yusaku nodded. This one was all him. Not only was he bad at speaking with people he didn't know, he wouldn't even know where to begin with the girl who was clearly so enamored with his alter ego.

"I'm assuming Aoi told you about the Ignis," Ryoken said, stumbling over Aoi's name a little. Both he and Miyu noticed, and the latter let out a small laugh, but nodded. "Good. Then you know most of them are gone now."

The small smile that had been on her face dropped in an instant. "Yes," she agreed. "I wish I'd gotten to meet her. The little blue fairy that visited me in my coma."

Neither of them were familiar with this story, so they both chose to ignore it. "Right," Ryoken said despite that fact. "One survived the last battle. The Dark Ignis. It is currently trying to bring back it's kind… at the expense of a second Lost Incident."

All the color drained out of Miyu's face. It was like watching a video effect demonstration, but Yusaku couldn't blame her for her reaction. He wasn't so stupid to think that the Lost Incident had effected everyone like it had effected he, Takeru, and Jin anymore - just looking at Spectre was proof enough of that - but he wasn't terribly surprised to see that she, too, had horrible trauma because of it. He fought off the odd urge to comfort her. "You mean," she trailed off, before trying again. "You mean it's after us?"

Both Ryoken and Yusaku shifted uncomfortably. "Not quite," Yusaku finally said after a tense silence. "He took Aoi as a substitute." The words were hard to say, and he felt that familiar wave of nausea at them - how had Ai done this? _Why_ had Ai gone down this road? - but he knew they had to be said.

Throwing the sheets off of herself, Miyu stood up, wobbling all the while. Ryoken moved to steady her, but she nearly threw him off, weak as she was. He quickly got the hint and backed off, while Yusaku just stared, wide eyed. "That's why you're here, right?" She asked, breathing heavily. "I'm not in good condition in the real world, but in Link VRAINS, I can fight. I can be of use. Right?"

In a way, Yusaku saw himself in Miyu at that moment. So broken, there in the real world, but so, so determined. Determined to do _something_. Anything. "Yes," he answered. "The two of us aren't enough to take him on by ourselves. We need help."

That was the easiest thing to say since stepping foot in the Den City hospital, Yusaku belatedly realized.

"I'll do it," Miyu told them, shaking on her feet. "I'll do anything to help Aoi. Just tell me what I need to do."

* * *

It hadn't taken long to get things moving from there. Once they'd successfully gotten her to sit back down on her bed, Ryoken had handed her a duel disk. It was a newer model, complete with the Knights of Hanoi's programming, so at least she'd be protected from anything other than a duel loss. Loaded onto it, once she'd set up her account, was the Marincess deck - the deck that Aqua and Blue Maiden had used in her honor.

She'd started crying, then; bawling like a baby, really. Neither Yusaku nor Ryoken knew how to deal with that, but she put herself together rather quickly after.

They'd agreed to call her again, on her personal phone, when they were ready to discuss their first move. They still had one more visit to make before they began, after all. This visit, Yusaku was dreading even more, however.

"Are you sure you want to come in for this?" He asked Ryoken, standing in front of a different hospital room door, on an entirely different floor. "I can handle this one if you want." Part of him wanted Ryoken to tell him to go in by himself, though as much as he wanted to, Yusaku knew he wouldn't lie to the boy about why they were there.

The other part of him asked out of concern. Jin had once been the most damaged of all the Lost Incident victims. At least, the living ones. For someone in Ryoken's position, it might've been too hard to face.

On top of that, seeing Miyu had obviously shaken the older boy up, yet still he shook his head. "I appreciate the concern," he said, lips tilting upwards a fraction at Yusaku, "but I must face Jin, as well. If I don't, I fear I'll never forgive myself."

Yusaku shrugged, not knowing what to say to that. Maybe it was better for him mentally to face Jin again, but he wouldn't hold it against the other boy if he decided he couldn't. He'd already faced Miyu, who had not only recognized him, but cowered in fear. That probably cut pretty deeply.

"If you say so," he finally settled on, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Let's get this over with, then."

Ryoken nodded, and with a grace that humans shouldn't be capable of, he moved to open the door.

* * *

Unlike the last time Yusaku had visited, Jin was awake and fully alert. He'd cut his hair, recently, and the bags under his eyes were slowly disappearing.

"I remember you," Jin said, looking at Yusaku with bright eyes he thought he'd never see. "You're Shoichi's friend. Fujiki, right?"

It was certainly a shock. The last time he'd been to the hospital with Kusanagi, Jin had been more or less catatonic. He had barely been able to speak, and that was apparently one of his _good _days. Yusaku couldn't imagine forgetting about the Lost Incident himself - even if, for a long time, he had wanted to, it had become too important to his person to just up and forget it like that. While it had been a horrific experience, it had shaped him into Playmaker. It had shaped him into someone who could tackle anything the world through at him, no matter how much it hurt. He wouldn't change that for anything.

For Jin, though, maybe it was a good thing. He had been so brutally shattered from Lightning's cruel jokes and the Lost Incident itself, Yusaku and Kusanagi had both sincerely doubted he would ever make a full recovery. They had wished for it, with all their hearts, but deep down, they had both known it wasn't truly possible. Maybe he could have learned to live with it, to some extent, but the kind of enthusiasm and easy going attitude he was displaying now would've been a pipe dream a few short months ago.

"That's right," he replied after snapping himself back into reality. "Sorry to bother you."

He shook his head, and sat up a little straighter on his chair. He wasn't even in the _bed_. If Kusanagi was here, Yusaku knew, the older man likely would've started crying tears of joy. "It's not a bother at all," Jin told him. "But who's with you?"

Ryoken blinked twice; something Yusaku had come to learn was one of his nervous ticks. "I'm Revolver," he said, taking care to keep himself steady. "The one who dueled your Ignis in Link VRAINS."

Neither of them were really sure how much Jin remembered of that, truthfully. They knew he had forgotten the Lost Incident, they knew he knew he had large gaps in his memory, but how much were those gaps? How much had he lost?

A beat, and then: "I remember," Jin said, a faint smile making its way onto his face. His face, which was looking healthier by the day, apparently. "Thank you."

When it became apparent that nobody was willing to continue to conversation, Yusaku spoke up again, wanting this to be over as soon as possible. "We came here to discuss something that happened recently," he started, nearly wincing at his own tone. "It's about your brother."

It wasn't in his nature to apologize for how blunt he was, but Yusaku almost wished he could've taken back his words at Jin's reaction. "What happened to Shoichi?" He asked, his voice sounding so, so much smaller than it had just two minutes ago.

"He's been captured by one of the Ignis," Ryoken said, taking over when Yusaku failed to get anything out of his mouth. "I'm sorry."

Jin's relaxed posture tensed quickly, his eyes squeezing shut. Ryoken opened his mouth to continue, probably to apologize again, but Yusaku put his hand out to tell him no. Yusaku knew what a panic attack looked like, and Jin was doing likely everything in his power to not break in front of them.

"We should go," Yusaku whispered, moving in close to Ryoken as to not disturb the younger Kusanagi. "Leave your number on the notepad. Give him time." He wasn't really comfortable with the idea of Ryoken coercing Jin into anything, but he trusted the older boy and knew it would get him out of there faster.

With a reluctant nod, Ryoken made his way over to the table in the room, scribbling something out. The two of them then left the room without another word.

* * *

The air around both Ryoken and Yusaku was tense as they walked back to Ryoken's car; both boys trying to come to terms with their situation and what they had just witnessed.

Everything was falling apart. Ai, Yusaku's now _ex _partner, was really trying to make himself irredeemable. He'd taken almost all of their allies; he'd crossed an unforgivable line. The thought of anyone going through the Lost Incident over again, the thought of _Takeru _having to go through that all over again, made him sick to his stomach again. He was glad, in all honesty, that the walk through the parking garage was long. Sitting in a moving vehicle right then would likely accomplish his body's goal of keeping no real calories in him.

"Are you," Ryoken started, his words thick with something Yusaku couldn't process at the moment. "Are you going to be alright?"

Yusaku would've laughed, if he were in any other position. He and Ryoken weren't on the worst of terms, no, but they couldn't even be considered friends yet. Not the way Yusaku would've liked them to be. And yet here they were - forced to be alone together. Alone with their thoughts. With nobody else left, they only had themselves to rely on.

Sure, Miyu had agreed to help, and Akira certainly was no slouch in the places he could be useful, but it wasn't the _same_. It wasn't the same as having both the rest of the Knights of Hanoi and Kusanagi doing most of the heavy lifting, hacking wise, while they dueled their way through trouble in Link VRAINS. And they had lost their heavy hitters dueling wise, too.

Blue Maiden. Spectre. Even Soulburner, who, since his arrival into Yusaku's life, had been a constant. The only time he'd seen the other boy lose was against Bohman. _Bohman_.

"No," Yusaku told him honestly, remembering that he should probably actually _say something_. "No, I don't think I am."

* * *

They had both leaned against the car for awhile, after that, listening to the sounds of the Den City nightlife pass them by. The hospital was located in the center of the city, near to where Kusanagi often parked his truck, and Yusaku desperately craved that familiarity at the moment.

Nothing made sense anymore.

After what felt like hours - what probably was hours - the sounds around them died down; only the late night workers or cram school students populating the city center. Finally, then, Yusaku nodded once to Ryoken, and they both got into the car.

Yusaku didn't ask Ryoken how he got his license, and Ryoken didn't offer an explanation. He wasn't a bad driver, and he wasn't going to get them killed in a car accident, which was all Yusaku truly cared about. It was more comfortable than Kusanagi's truck was, at least physically, as well.

Yusaku also didn't ask how Ryoken knew where to drop him off. It didn't bother him, really, that he seemed to know so much about him - his personal details, his medical records. Ryoken never said so directly, but Yusaku knew that he'd been keeping tabs on him, for whatever reason. A small quip here or there, or in this case, driving directly to his worn down apartment building on the bad side of town.

When they arrived, neither of them moved for a few moments; just sitting in the car with only the sounds of their breathing filling the cabin. It took all of Yusaku's strength to unclip his seat belt. He was exhausted, but there was no time to rest. He knew as soon as he walked up those stairs, he would boot up his laptop and get to work on trying to find Ai's location.

"I'll contact you sometime tomorrow," Ryoken said, breaking the silence that had been looming over them since the parking garage. "Is that acceptable?"

He wasn't even sure why he was asking. They had ran out of options so thoroughly they had asked _Jin _to help. "Yes," Yusaku said instead, forcing himself to open the door and leave the car. His movements were jagged, almost, but once he was successfully outside, he met Ryoken's eyes.

There was so much there that Yusaku couldn't even begin to describe. Part of him wanted to look away. "Alright." The more Ryoken spoke, the wearier his voice sounded. "Goodbye, then."

Even after he'd slammed the car door and Ryoken had driven away, Yusaku stood outside in the same spot, almost as if he were glued there. His bones hurt. His body felt heavy. And yet, his mind still raced - why was Ai doing this, even though he knew exactly what the Lost Incident meant? Why was Ai willing to go that far, without even trying other options? _How _could Ai do this? And how could he stop him without killing his partner? He'd been asking himself these questions since he'd logged out the network earlier, but they wouldn't stop pounding in his head.

The duel disk clamped onto his wrist felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. For so long, he'd thought he'd finally broken out of his shackles. No longer had he been tied down to the Lost Incident. No longer had he been solely driven by revenge. But now, climbing up the stairs to his apartment, he could feel the chains dragging him back down. Down to where Ai was, lost and alone in a never ending ocean of darkness.

* * *

**Notes**

As some of you may know, I have my orientation for my new job tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much writing time I'll have in the next few weeks. That said, I hopefully won't go longer than about **two weeks **in between chapters. That's what I'm aiming for, anyways, but I'll always try to keep y'all updated.

Thanks again for checking this out. I've been mulling this idea around since I saw the theories on why Ai had defected back in June/July, and fully fleshed it out back during 111. I love the way Vrains ended, honestly, but I couldn't get this idea to go away, so I decided to hell with it and started writing it. Thank you again for reading and I'll see y'all in the next chapter!


	2. urgent link

**Notes**

Hello and welcome back! Thanks so much for reading the first chapter and to all of you who reviewed/favorited/etc etc! If I haven't replied to your review yet, I'm sorry, but I _have _seen it and I guarantee it made my day! I wanted to have this out earlier, but unfortunately, my new job and schedule have been kicking my ass. I've kinda got it worked out now, and with NaNoWriMo starting up soon, I'm sure I'll be able to upload a bit more frequently.

That all said, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! Not... as much happens in this one, but you're all in for a ride next time, haha.

* * *

When Yusaku awoke that morning, he awoke to a text message he had to reread three times back to make sure he had read it correctly in the first place.

_Jin has agreed to help us, _was all Ryoken had written, and Yusaku stared at his phone as if it had grown three extra heads.

Putting his phone back down, he decided to ignore that for the time being. In a few hours, he was sure he'd be back in Link VRAINS - or at least, in the pocket of virtual reality space that Ryoken and Akira had deemed safe - with Jin Kusanagi and Miyu Sugisaki to discuss what their game plan was. It was more than a little surreal, and the thought that almost all of his allies were likely undergoing the horrid trauma he had went through as a child was making his skin crawl.

Unfortunately, not even a full minute after Yusaku had decided to ignore his phone, it began to ring. He knew who it was before he even bothered to check. "Ryoken," he said into the receiver; not bothering to hide his exhaustion. "What is it?"

"With the network being unstable at the moment, we will be using my home as a base," Ryoken replied, not missing a beat. If he was agitated by Yusaku's attitude at all, he didn't show it. "We'll have a meeting at six."

_I'm not one of your Knights, _Yusaku bit back, knowing he wasn't really aggravated with Ryoken - just the situation itself was grating on him. "I'll be there," he promised instead. He wasn't used to taking orders from anyone, or truly working with other people. It was an odd feeling.

Even Takeru, who had stuck by his and Kusanagi's side through everything, didn't exactly work _with _him. He was helpful in his own right; deciding to duel against people that were standing in his way and helping out with research during the battles between themselves and the Ignis, but he was so… _passive_, almost - especially in comparison to Ryoken.

Through and through, Ryoken was a leader, and it showed in everything he said and every decision he made. Yusaku, on the other hand, didn't do well with others dictating the paths he was supposed to take. It was likely a remnant from the years of useless therapy, that failed to fix whatever had been wrong with him.

"Good." There was a long pause, and Yusaku had to check to make sure the other boy hadn't hung up the phone. "Are you," Ryoken started, coughing a bit into the line, "feeling any better?"

Yusaku's eyebrows raised a bit, but even though he was alone, he very quickly reigned in his expression. "Not really," he said bluntly, taking a deep breath. "But thanks."

It was a new feeling, to have Ryoken worrying over his emotional state like this. Despite the horrors of the day before, Yusaku felt himself grow warmer. Everyone else around him might be gone, but at least Ryoken did care. Even if he only cared because he was needed to fix this, it was certainly better than being on his own again.

"Yes, well." Ryoken coughed again. "I will see you tonight, then. Thank you."

The phone call ended, but Yusaku didn't move his phone away from his ear for a few moments. He wasn't ready to deal with the real world yet, and he certainly wasn't ready to get out of bed. Everything that could've possibly gone wrong yesterday _had_, and that was a fact that he was still learning to live with.

He'd be learning to live with it for a long, long while, he knew.

Last night, he'd dreamed of Ai. He knew dreams were often a body's way of processing things, but Yusaku hadn't been ready for that. Hadn't been ready to watch, over and over again, Ai talk about how restarting the Lost Incident was necessary. How he needed his friends back, no matter the cost.

Flame would've been so disappointed. Angry, of course, but disappointed, too. Aqua, for sure, would've felt the same. While Earth didn't work with them in the end - though not by fault of his own, he just hadn't had the chance - Yusaku was sure the socially awkward Ignis would not have wanted that, either. Windy, before becoming corrupted, probably would've sided with them. And Lightning…

Yusaku shook his head. Lightning probably would've been proud. Halfheartedly, he wondered if Ai had defected because he now held the other Ignis inside of him, in some way. Their power had been used to create Darkfluid, yes, but he knew their… essence, so to speak, lived on in Ai.

Deep down, though, he knew there was nobody he could place the blame on but Ai himself. Yusaku could search for a solution all day, search for someone else to shift responsibility on to, but it didn't change the facts. Loathe as he was to admit it.

With a sigh, he finally let him arm fall down onto the bed, phone still clutched in his hand. The other night, he had thought sleeping forever had sounded fantastic. After his restless sleep and horrible nightmares, however, he was once again reminded of why he used to avoid sleeping on his own at all costs.

Pushing himself out of his bed, Yusaku made his way into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He felt useless. Sleep wasn't restful, staying awake at the moment was pointless, and while he sluggishly moved around in his apartment, all of his friends and allies were wasting away in a recreation of what he considered to be the single most traumatic event of his entire life.

"Ai," Yusaku said to himself, most certainly not for the first nor last time, "what have you done?"

* * *

When the Ignis war had been ongoing, Ryoken had not had the chance to log out of Mirror Link VRAINS - to see and live in the empty ship, without the rest of his Knights mentally present. Their bodies were still perfectly in tact, sitting in their respective VR chairs and breathing; silently and slowly. But Ryoken knew their minds were not even slightly present. They were still trapped within the network, and Spectre…

Ryoken clenched his fist so tightly his nails broke the skin on his palm. It was true that back then, when the Lost Incident had occurred, Spectre had not been hurt by the it. Not in the same way Yusaku, Jin, or apparently Miyu had been, but he had still been effected.

He wasn't sure if Spectre would've turned out to be a… normal person, in the traditional sense, had he not been grabbed off the street by his father and forced to duel to survive for six months. Spectre had not had it easy for his first six years of life, not by a long shot, but at least he had a _chance_. After the Lost Incident, it was all he knew, and after Ryoken had found him outside of the facility that fateful night, his fate had been sealed.

This time, however, was not the same. Spectre was no longer some lost little child; whose only family was a great tree. He was now a fully functioning adult, or very nearly one. He had a life, he had a duty, he had a real family. The Knights of Hanoi were not perfect, they were not truly close in the same way nuclear families seemed to be, but it was _home_.

And this time around, not only did he have to see his other family members be ripped away from him, but he had to be forced back into dueling to survive. Ryoken wasn't sure how well he would handle it, not really.

Spectre was like a brother to him. The Knights, all of them, were his _family_. In everything they'd done, in every war they've fought, there was always the possibility that one of them wouldn't make it back.

But never had Ryoken had to wake up from his own VR chair in an empty room, only surrounded by practically lifeless bodies before.

Finally letting his fist relax at his side, he forced himself to start moving. Sitting around and thinking about what had gone wrong wouldn't fix anything, he reminded himself, and besides - none of his family would want him to mourn like this. They weren't gone yet. He still had work to do, a mission to complete, a plan to make.

With heavy reluctance, he made his way back off the boat to begin setting up for that evening in his old house. All of that may have been true, but unfortunately, Ryoken knew it didn't make it any easier.

* * *

Surprisingly, Yusaku was the first to arrive at Stardust Road. It wasn't a terribly long walk away from his apartment, but the twenty minutes that it took felt more like hours upon hours. Every step he took, everything thought he had felt like he was racing against the clock, and he couldn't get himself to move fast enough. The fact that he had to wait until the _evening _to get a plan formed and ready to go was insane enough.

The sight in the evening was terribly familiar, and he willed himself not to think of it. Since then, he had went to Stardust Road quite a few times - for some reason, the sight of the ocean, even when it wasn't lit up, made it easier for him to think. He tried his hardest not to dwell on _why _the tourist spot helped his mind relax, but alone waiting for the rest of the _response team_, as he'd dubbed them in his head that afternoon, he couldn't help it.

Much to his luck, for once, Yusaku wasn't allowed to dwell for long. Footsteps broke his train of thought, and he looked over to see a very out of place looking Jin. He hadn't really considered how either he or Miyu would get there, truthfully, seeing as they were both inpatients at Den City Hospital. But yet there he stood, rubbing his arm and holding Yusaku's gaze.

"Why did you agree to this?" Yusaku asked Jin wearily. It was a terrible way to start a conversation, but unfortunately, Yusaku had never been well versed in small talk.

The question had been eating him alive since earlier that morning, however, and it was the first thing he thought of to say.

From next to him, Jin shrugged, still staring at the sunset on the ocean. It was too familiar to Yusaku - too similar to the last time he had been there at that time of day. The Tower of Hanoi felt like a far off memory now, though it hadn't even been a year since he'd fought Revolver for the last time.

"Have you ever had amnesia?" Jin asked instead of replying, and Yusaku's eyes moved to look at the side of his face. "I don't remember the Lost Incident. Not at all. But I remember the last ten years of my life."

Slowly, Yusaku nodded, but he wasn't really sure where the younger Kusanagi was going with this.

Jin smiled a bit, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I remember being in the hospital, obviously. I remember not being able to talk much and just being scared. But I don't remember _why _I was so scared. What I was so scared of." He took a deep breath, and finally, turned to meet Yusaku's eyes. "Shoichi was always there for me, helping me." Yusaku knew that well - so many times, they'd rushed to the hospital at the drop of a dime. "I want to give back to my older brother, but also, I feel like this might help me understand more. About why I needed that help in the first place."

It was not an answer Yusaku was expecting - though truthfully, he wasn't sure _what _he had been expecting - but it was at least well thought out. He couldn't find any room for argument in it; at least, not an argument that wouldn't make him a complete and utter hypocrite.

He and Jin had never been particularly close. The few times they'd actually exchanged words, Jin was still deep, deep into his recovery. Shoichi had told him about what Jin was like before the Lost Incident, but Yusaku had never known what to expect once Jin was recovered. When it came to light that Lightning had actually, accidentally or not, done something positive for his origin, Yusaku still hadn't talked to Jin much - mostly too involved in handling his own pain with Ai gone again.

And then, of course, the current mess he was neck deep in had started.

"I'm sorry," Yusaku said after a moment, and Jin's brows furrowed in confusion. "It's not fair that this is how you have to learn."

Blinking, Jin exhaled loudly through his nose. "I'm actually kind of glad," he said, surprising Yusaku once again. "I feel - I feel weird. I know I'm almost seventeen, but I feel like I'm still six years old," he explained, bringing a hand up to rub at his arm. "I'm so close to being on my own, but I'm not ready at all. I also was hoping this might help with that, too."

"What are you guys talking about?" A voice Yusaku didn't recognize interrupted, before he was able to formulate any sort of reply. Sharply, he turned around, only to be met with blue-gray eyes.

"You're Sugisaki," Yusaku realized, almost not recognizing her. He'd only seen her twice in his lifetime, and one of those times was over a decade ago, but he was still surprised. She looked different to how she did in the hospital. The wheelchair was the only part he wasn't shocked about.

Even with the circumstances, she looked full of life.

Her hair was drawn up into two pigtails, reminiscent of Blue Angel, and she smiled brightly at Yusaku. "You can call me Miyu," she told him before turning to Jin. "You must be Jin, right? It's nice to meet you."

It was hard to believe this was the same girl he'd encountered at the hospital. Just yesterday, she had cried, and seemed wary of helping them at all, only doing so out of her loyalty to Aoi. But today, she was smiling as if they weren't about to plan a mission that could, potentially, result in another coma for her.

Or worse.

"Are the introductions out of the way?" Instantly, Yusaku's head snapped in the direction of the voice. Ryoken stood impassively, closer to where the staircase started at the pedestrian road ended. Once he had everyone's attention, he nodded. "Good. Follow me."

He was commanding as always, but Yusaku fell in line without a second thought. Usually, he strained against any kind of orders as a natural instinct. With Ryoken, he found it was much easier to listen. Part of him knew why - it was hard to deny the pull he still had to that voice - but there was still a large part of him that didn't, and didn't like to think about it much.

From behind him, Miyu huffed. "He seemed nicer when he was sad," she said to herself, and Yusaku nearly cracked a smile despite the circumstances.

* * *

They didn't go into the room that Yusaku was familiar with, but he was glad about that. That room brought nothing but upsetting memories; harsh memories that he didn't want to be thinking of, right now. Memories of both a very different Ryoken and a very different Ai.

Instead, they were brought into what Yusaku assumed to be the living room. It was large and open, and he assumed much of the house - if one could even call it that - was, but there were a few couches and chairs gathered into a semicircle around a table. Ryoken sat himself down in one of the arm chairs, so Yusaku followed suit. Miyu maneuvered herself to sit at the table directly, eyeing the various plates that were spread out onto it.

Yusaku couldn't help but roll his eyes at the sight. Even the food was likely more expensive then anything he would ever own in his lifetime.

"So why did you ask us all to come here?" Miyu asked, breaking the silence that had stretched out since they began the trek up to the cliff side mansion. "It's not easy getting in and out of that hospital, you know."

"It's not safe to meet in Link VRAINS at the moment," Ryoken said, and he could hear the way these things were testing his patience. "This was simply easier."

"For _you_," she snorted, but seemed to relax herself a bit more in her chair. "But really, what are we here to discuss?"

Yusaku watched as she took one of the fancy looking bread stick things and popped it into her mouth without a second thought. He watched as Jin, from next to him on the couch, hesitantly took one himself, and finally gave into his own desire and took one as well.

Ryoken had an almost prideful look on his face as they all began to eat, and Yusaku looked away after heat began to fill his face for some reason. "I need to know your abilities as a duelist," Ryoken said, eyes sweeping over all of them one at a time. "I am very familiar with Fujiki's ability level," he paused, and Miyu snorted again, "but I do not know where you two are in comparison."

After swallowing, Miyu hummed thoughtfully. Jin, on the other hand, was deathly silent; completely focused on the small plate of food he'd gathered for himself. "So how do you suppose we do that?" She asked.

He hadn't known what to expect from either of them, really, but Miyu continued to surprise him. She was much more straight forward then he'd been expecting her to be, and seemingly very take charge. The Lost Incident had effected her, if the night before was anything to go off of, but it was almost refreshing in a way to see a victim have that level of resilience.

"I can duel." All eyes turned to Jin, who still was staring pointedly at his food. "Over the last few months, I wanted to relearn it. See if it triggered any memories," he continued, before finally looking up at the others. "It didn't, but I do know how to duel."

Nodding thoughtfully, Ryoken turned himself to face Jin directly. Yusaku had never seen him take so much care while talking to anyone, and it very nearly brought a smile to his face. More and more with each meeting, Ryoken proved to Yusaku how he was really was the good person the younger boy had always known him to be.

"I was going to propose the two of you duel my AI Pandor," Ryoken said, "if that is acceptable."

Yusaku stared at him for a moment, having completely forgotten about the AI with free will - but _limited_ free will. It was a testament to Ryoken's genius that he had been able to devise such a thing in the first place; and even more so that he had done so without any need for torturing children this time around. He then moved his eyes to watch Miyu and Jin's reactions.

Jin had just admitted aloud he had been practicing his own dueling, but Miyu had not spoken a single word about dueling since vaguely mentioning Link VRAINS the night before. Her face had paled considerably, but she nodded anyways.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up a bit straighter in her chair, brushing the crumbs that had accumulated off of her lap. "I'll go first, if you want," she said, looking directly at Jin. "It's been awhile since I dueled, anyways."

Yusaku wondered if that was because of the Lost Incident, her coma, or both. Likely both, he decided, as Ryoken got up to open his computer.

"No," Jin said firmly, shaking his head. "I'll go first." He held up his duel disk, and though his arm shuddered a bit, he looked determined. "Please."

"Very well." Ryoken looked at them all, and Yusaku found himself sitting up a little straighter, too. "I've prepared a VR space for us all. Let's begin, then."

* * *

Playmaker watched with careful eyes as Jin stood up on his side of the arena, looking more or less the same as his real life self did. He wasn't surprised the boy hadn't made himself an avatar, not really, but there was one thing different - his hair. It was shorter, much shorter than it was in real life.

"Are you ready to begin?" Pandor asked from across the field, and Playmaker shifted his gaze over to the AI that Revolver, of all people, had created. Her free will seemed to be less advanced than Ai's and the other Ignis', but she had been created without the need to harm another human being. It was truly impressive.

Shifting on his feet a bit, Jin nodded. "Don't go easy on me, please," he said, moving his arm up into a dueling position. "Let's duel!"

"How much faith do you have in us, really?" Miyu asked, putting a hand on her hip. Her tone was accusatory, and her eyes were narrowed at Revolver. They had quite a height difference in between them, but the girl didn't seem intimidated at all.

Playmaker shifted his gaze between the two warily, trying his hardest to focus on both their conversation and the duel that had just started. From what he could gather off of Jin's first turn, it seemed like he used an Crusadia deck, surprisingly. It wasn't an archetype he was familiar with, and some of the cards appeared to be Cyberse - had Lightning left him with more than just a broken memory?

However, he was proving to be a surprisingly well rounded duelist, Playmaker thought, as he continued trying to make a good defense for himself on his first turn.

Meanwhile, Revolver mimicked Miyu's pose, placing a hand on his own hip. "_Faith _is useless," he said, voice firm. "I will not make my plans based on _faith_. That is why I am testing you."

Playmaker couldn't help but look back to Miyu to gauge her reaction. The girl in question rolled her eyes, her pink pigtails bouncing as she turned to face Revolver fully. Without thinking too much about it, Playmaker took a step back. He did not feel like being in the middle of the two of them; especially not as he tried to keep an eye on Jin's duel.

Kusanagi would be proud of his younger brother, Playmaker was sure.

"Fine, then," Miyu huffed. "Make an educated guess about our abilities, in that case."

He watched with interest as Jin finally ended his first turn, ending on a board of Crusadia Equimax and Crusadia Regulex - two Light attribute Cyberse Link Monsters. In all honesty, Playmaker had been half expecting Jin to be using Lightning's old Armatos Legio archetype, and it was a pleasant surprise that he wasn't. He wondered still where he had gotten the cards, but that was for another time. Jin clearly hadn't been lying about practicing, and that was the important part.

From in front of him, though, Revolver's voice caught his attention. He was beginning to get a headache from flipping between them.

"Jin's abilities," Revolver said, gesturing to the current duel, "are clearly much more apt than I had expected. Yours, however, are yet to be seen. How often do you duel?"

Miyu's narrowed eyes narrowed even farther, and Playmaker was mildly impressed by it. "Often, thank you. I may not be in a Duel Club like Aoi," she said, voice getting softer as she spoke about her missing friend, "but I play in secret after school. Real life duels, though, with actual cards."

She had Playmaker's full attention, now, and he turned to face her, completely forgetting to keep watching Jin's duel. "It doesn't scare you?" He blurted out, curiosity getting the best of him.

Before he had become Playmaker, he had been terrified of dueling. Even _as _Playmaker, for the longest time, his drive to find out what happened to him as a child was only beaten out by his will to not lose again. His nightmares of the Lost Incident had long ceased, after Kogami was dead, but it did not change the paralyzing fear he felt in his blood still during his harder duels.

Turning to face him directly, Miyu's expression eased, and she gave him a sympathetic smile. "Oh, it definitely does," she told him, and though she sounded confident, he could hear the tremor in her voice. "But I can't let that stop me. I started a long time ago, hoping it would help me find Aoi, but that never happened."

It dawned on him how similar, in a way, he and Miyu truly were. They had both spent ten years looking for the person who had saved them - their first friends. He nodded at her, an odd understanding coming over him. "We'll get her back," he promised, as his gaze subconsciously shifted to where Revolver still stood, impassive.

She nodded at him in return, her smile dropping and face growing serious. "I know we will."

* * *

Jin's duel was a complete success, and while Pandor had given him a run for his money, his command over the Crusadia cards he dueled with was definitely nothing to scoff at. When he left the field, though, he did not smile in triumph, or anything of the sort. Instead, he wore a frown that tugged at his lips with every step.

Instead of asking about that, though, Playmaker had other questions in mind. "Where did you get those cards?" Playmaker couldn't help but blurt out, as soon as Jin was within reach. The Ignis had been the ones who created the Cyberse archetype, and the only other Cyberse cards he knew of in existence were the ones he and Revolver had pulled out of Data Storms.

There was also the question of Pandor's deck, as it was based around the Topologics, another Cyberse archetype, but he had a feeling that was a less interesting story - and one that he could hear later, from Revolver himself.

"They were in my hospital room," he said honestly, and Playmaker studied his face for any signs of a lie. "Sitting on the table, after I had lost my memories." Jin shrugged, but he didn't look uncomfortable sharing the information. "I just figured they were mine, way back then, but I'm guessing now that's not the case."

Back when the war against Lightning was ongoing, for the longest time, Ai had believed in the good of the other Ignis. In the good of Lightning and Windy. At the end of the war, despite Lightning being so far gone Playmaker did not believe he was redeemable at all, he had done one kindness for Jin - given him the gift of life, after so cruelly taking it away.

It may have been an accident, but it had still been kind regardless. Five months ago, Playmaker would've never imagined seeing Jin in this small pocket of virtual reality of his own accord. Five months ago, he wouldn't have even known if Jin could _talk_.

So Playmaker wondered, then, if somehow, Lightning had created this deck for Jin, as a final goodbye. In his own twisted way, maybe he had cared for his origin. Maybe he had cared about him for more reasons then just _I want to be better than Ai_.

It was a thought that shook him to the core. Playmaker had not so much as flinched when Lightning became one with Bohman, but Ai had. Before everything, Ai had known Lightning to be the Ignis' leader - strong, bright, and caring in his own way. He had never asked too much about what life had been like in Cyberse. It had never seemed important. Now, though, he wondered.

Wondered if he had asked, if he had known, had shown more mercy against Lightning though he wasn't the one to duel him…

Jin looked away, then, and Playmaker realized he had been silent for far too long. Neither Miyu nor Revolver had interrupted, either; both much more focused on either talking to Pandor or going over their deck in preparation for their own duel.

Shaking his head slowly, Playmaker let out a breath that he didn't need to. "No," he said simply. "Cyberse cards are made by the Ignis." He considered explaining more to the boy, but decided he would leave it at that. Let him come to his own conclusions about his Ignis and about his deck.

The deck sitting in his own duel disk felt heavy once again. These cards… he had known for a long time now that they must've been made by one of the Ignis, but with everything that had happened, there was only one possible creator of his deck. One Ignis who would've wanted him, specifically, to find them.

Playmaker's deck held all the feelings he had about the Lost Incident inside of it. All his drive, all his want for revenge. But it also held every accomplishment he'd ever made with it - saving Ryoken. Defeating Bohman.

And now, he knew, he must somehow stop Ai, with the deck that had been built by him. It didn't seem fair.

Nothing did, anymore.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Pandor asked from across the makeshift dueling field Ryoken had set up.

Taking a shuddering breath, Miyu raised her duel disk up, activating it with another. _Not at all, _she wanted to reply. She hadn't been lying when she'd told Playmaker that dueling terrified her. Most of the time, she hadn't dueled in VR, and she'd used her own deck - a Frog deck that she hadn't spent too much money or time on, if she was being honest.

Now, she was here in Link VRAINS - or rather, a _pocket of Virtual Reality space_, as Revolver had made it clear - using a deck she'd never really seen before. Aoi had taken the time to show her some of it, but had caught on right away that dueling was still rather painful for Miyu.

Thinking of Aoi made her heart hurt, though. Thinking of how now her best friend was trapped in that horrible situation, with no end in sight… Miyu steeled herself. In truth, she knew how she felt for Aoi. She'd known for a long time, how as a child, she had latched onto the thought of her first and only friend at the time.

As she'd recovered, if one could really call it that, and gotten older, those thoughts hadn't really… gone away. Miyu had wanted nothing more than to see her again, than to apologize for what had happened with her mom all those years ago, and to thank her.

Thank her for being her strength. Thank her for being her friend - a real one. Thank her for covering for her that fateful day; for proving how much she had treasured their friendship and Miyu herself.

So instead of backing out, instead of bursting into tears like she so desperately wanted to, Miyu nodded instead. "Let's go, Pandor," she said, taking care not to let her voice shake. "I won't lose!" _Not when Aoi is what's on the line._

* * *

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Jin asked quietly, watching as Pandor took the first turn. It was a reasonable question - unlike Jin, Miyu still remembered the Lost Incident, and obviously in great detail.

Revolver and Playmaker both stayed quiet at the question. It was clear to him that neither of them really knew how to answer. Not for the first time, Jin wished he remembered what she and Playmaker were so scared of. Why dueling terrified them to the very core. Why it was such a feat that they were able to push through that for what they believed in.

But he didn't. He didn't remember a thing about it. It was why he had agreed to help, as he'd told Fujiki earlier that day. The Lost Incident, as Jin had heard it referred to so many times now, was a complete mystery to him.

By the way everyone else acted, it was clearly for the best that he didn't remember. But remembering remembering… it was an odd feeling. He knew that for the last decade of his life, he'd lived in a hospital, more or less. He'd been completely catatonic, had not even been able to say a simple greeting to his regular nurses most days. Not knowing _why _was odd, but knowing that he had been that way and had suddenly… forgot?

It was much, much worse.

"Yes," Playmaker finally answered, and Jin snapped himself out of his thoughts. "She has someone to save. She'll get through this."

The way he spoke, Jin could tell the other boy was speaking from experience. He wasn't the most observant person - spending ten years trying to avoid as much human contact as possible would do that to someone - but slowly, he'd been learning.

And watching the way Playmaker's eyes flicked over to Revolver while he spoke about _someone to save _told him everything he needed to know.

Jin moved his gaze back to the duel, watching as Miyu began her first turn with Marincess Sea Horse. He was unfamiliar with her deck, but he knew by the way she thought about each move it wasn't hers. "If you say so," he said after a moment, eyes still focused on the duel in front of him. "If you say so."

* * *

Like Jin before her, Miyu was able to defeat Pandor, despite how even the duel had been. While it was clear that she was a bit shaken up, she stood strong, and waited until Revolver had given everyone the okay to log out of virtual reality and return to his mansion. It was harder than Playmaker had expected to watch Miyu duel, but he couldn't deny how relieved he was when she had managed the final push with Marincess Great Bubble Reef.

Once they were back in the real world, Yusaku stood up almost instantly, not wanting to succumb to his exhaustion. Between the lack of sleep, the horrible dreams, and the awful situation he had been placed in, his mind and body had not been able to recover. Going to Link VRAINS usually took at least a little out of him - in the past, he'd even passed out after an intense duel before - and the pockets of virtual reality space were seemingly no different.

Around the room, it seemed both Miyu and Jin were somewhat woozy. Ryoken, too, took notice of that, a small frown etching itself onto his face. "This is why I made sure to have food," he said, waving absentmindedly towards the table. "Please eat and recover. We will formulate a plan tomorrow afternoon."

Before Yusaku could even open his mouth to object, Miyu was already on the older boy. "Absolutely _not_," she said, almost pushing herself up off her wheelchair. "We don't have that kind of time!"

Jin stayed silent, but Yusaku couldn't. "We don't," he agreed, his green eyes searching Ryoken's face for anything of use. "We barely even had the time to do this."

Ryoken's eyes narrowed. "Need I remind you that we don't even know where the Dark Ignis is hiding," he said, gesturing again at the food. "Sit, and eat. I will arrange a ride for you all, and we will discuss the plan _tomorrow_."

His tone and words left absolutely no room for argument, and Miyu visibly deflated, slumping down into her chair. Yusaku, however, did not sit; did not look at the food that Jin had begun to dig into. Despite his aggravation, he was well aware of Ryoken's point, but his feelings couldn't just _disappear_. It was hard enough to even be sitting still while he knew what could be happening to his… friends.

Time passed differently in virtual reality. What could be days in Link VRAINS was likely only a single day in the real world. It had already been over a full day since Akira and Aoi had lost to Ai. The amount of time that had passed with everyone in a second Lost Incident was horrifying, but Yusaku couldn't think of a good counter argument. He knew he'd been beaten.

They couldn't just rush in. Ai could clone himself, and while his clones were beatable, who knows how many they'd have to get through and tire themselves out before they were able to take on the real thing. On top of that, Ai had Roboppy, who seemed to be willing to put themselves out there for Ai's whims, as shown by the defeat of Blood Shepherd and Ghost Girl. If that was the case, Yusaku knew it was possible that Ai had begun to create other AIs to aid him and his goals. With only he and Revolver, it was a suicide mission.

With Jin and Miyu, at least they might have a fighting chance.

Ryoken wandered back into the room, staring at Yusaku for a moment before redirecting his attention towards the room as a whole. "A car will be here to retrieve you shortly," he said, voice suddenly very obvious _exhausted_. "I have also arranged for you to come back at the same arrival time tomorrow. We will go from there."

Things were moving too fast and too slow at the same time. It was an infuriating feeling. "Fine," Yusaku went with instead.

Nodding, Ryoken's expression eased slightly. "Before you all depart, is there anything you wish to talk about?"

A thousand questions jumped into Yusaku's mind, but he knew most of them had no answer. And if they did, they certainly weren't questions Ryoken himself could answer. Nobody besides Ai could answer why he had chosen to go down this path. Likewise, there was simple just no answer for why things had gone the way they had. Life didn't give simple answers out like that.

However, there was one thing that continued to gnaw on him since the night before. "Who is taking over for Windy's origin?" He asked, just as he had when he'd spoken to Akira and Revolver.

Whatever questions Jin and Miyu might've had obviously halted in their throats, and both of them turned to look at Ryoken with varying expressions. While Jin was mostly confused, Miyu looked almost _pained_. Vaguely, Yusaku wondered if she had known him, somehow - Windy's origin. He supposed it was possible. After all, he had met up with Kusanagi out of chance.

Or at least, partially chance. The longer things went on the way they did, he wondered how much of it _had _really been chance.

"I don't know," Ryoken replied after a minute, the words strangled as he forced them out. "There haven't been anymore kidnappings, so we have no leads."

It was frustrating, but it was at least an answer. And it was partially a relief. No more kidnappings mean that Ai hadn't just pulled a random person off the street, and that was a blessing in itself. Yusaku knew that Ai was based on him, however, and had the same stubborn streak that he had always possessed. It was almost unthinkable that Ai would just let this go with nobody for Windy, so that meant he had to have _some _sort of a backup plan.

Everything was silent after that, for a few moments. None of them could think of anything to say to that, and nobody wanted to speculate on what Ai might've done in the place of Windy's origin. If Jin and Miyu had other questions, they refused to ask them and break the silence, and Yusaku had nothing else to say that was worth saying.

After the brief bout of uncomfortable silence passed, Ryoken cleared his throat, making a point to look down at his duel disk. "The driver will be here shortly," he said, and Yusaku couldn't tell if that was true or if he had just said that to get things moving again. "I will talk with you more tomorrow."

Like statues granted the gift of life, Miyu and Jin seemed to unfreeze in their respective places and begin to gather themselves and head towards the door. Yusaku, however, lingered, unsure. He had decided as soon as Ryoken had said it originally that he wouldn't be joining them in the car, but it was a bit awkward to stand around in a house with so many memories - so many of those unwanted.

By some stroke of luck, however, Ryoken stopped him in his tracks.

"Fujiki," Ryoken said, stopping Yusaku in his tracks. "A word."

He had just about given up and was about to follow Miyu and Jin out, though he wasn't about to join them for the ride. Instead, though, he turned around, facing Ryoken again directly. "What is it?" He asked, words blunt. His tone, however, was softer than normal - softer than it had been all day.

Whether that was because he was alone with Ryoken once again, or whether it was the stress of everything wearing down on him, he wasn't sure.

"What is it?" Yusaku's voice was weary, but that was more so a product of the long day - week, month, year, _decade _\- than anything else. He felt his own nerves relax in Ryoken's presence, as they always did.

Ryoken turned to head back inside, and without questioning it, Yusaku followed. "I have a few questions," he said, turning to face him once again once they were safely inside the confines of the mansion. "And you need to eat more."

The last request surprised Yusaku, but not as much as Ryoken physically _pushing _the plate of food that was still leftover towards him. "I'm not hungry," Yusaku replied on instinct, despite the fact he could feel the hunger gnawing at his stomach.

Ryoken gave him a look, but didn't push it. "Do you think Miyu or Jin are capable of defeating," Ryoken paused, almost seemingly choking on his own words. "The robot AI the Dark Ignis infected?"

_Roboppy. _The fact that somehow, his _cleaning robot _of all things had gotten mixed up in this mess still hurt. Yusaku had built her from scratch, painstakingly collecting each volume of that old magazine to get the different parts for her. Back then, he'd still been so alone - so trapped in darkness. She had been something _good_. Something helpful, something constant.

It was something he had desperately needed at the time, and in all honesty, still craved even then. The question Ryoken had asked made his heart sink deeper and deeper into his chest, and the fact that he knew he was expected to give a reasonable answer made it all the worse.

He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about having to defeat, and possibly kill, what he had considered to be something akin to a pet for five _years_. But even though Ryoken was being patient and waiting for him to speak, he could tell that the older boy expected an answer.

Swallowing harshly, Yusaku finally nodded. "Yes," he said, but the word came out more strangled then he had intended. "Roboppy… defeated Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd, but I think they were underestimating…" Him? Her? It? He didn't even know what to call Roboppy anymore. "Them."

Nodding, Ryoken seemed to take in his answer before continuing. Yusaku wasn't sure if the older boy was showing him mercy or was just thinking deeply, but he appreciated the break in the short conversation all the same. "Do you think they will recover?"

For a moment, Yusaku thought Ryoken was asking about Roboppy, but he realized in after a short pause he meant Jin and Miyu. That was a question he barely even had to think about. "I don't know."

Jin, probably, if Yusaku were being honest. He didn't remember why he had been so scared of dueling in the first place. If anything, this endeavor to save his brother would probably be good for him. It would give him some much needed control over his own life, after waking up no longer afraid but still being stuck in a hospital like a lab rat.

Miyu, on the other hand, was a different story. She, like Yusaku, hated dueling to a certain extent. She continuously forced herself to do it to find Aoi, and Yusaku knew those sorts of feelings well. Without really realizing it, his gaze drifted from the food Ryoken had pushed near him to Ryoken himself. Those feelings were powerful, and he knew her conviction would not waver.

But would she recover from this? Recover from having to save her friend from the very same horrors she had experienced as a child? Yusaku wasn't sure, and he refused to give an answer to it.

"I see." Ryoken exhaled slowly, leaning back into his chair in a rare display of casualness. "Would you like a ride home?"

_No. Yes_. Part of Yusaku wanted to agree instantly - he couldn't fight the way his body and mind seemed to relax around Ryoken - but the other part of him knew he needed the time and space to think things through on his own before tomorrow. They had agreed to meet back up in the evening at Stardust Road to finally go searching for Ai and Roboppy, after all, and that was a lot.

"No," Yusaku finally settled on. "But thank you."

He didn't miss the way Ryoken bristled at the dismissal, but he didn't have the brain capacity to think too heavily on it at the moment. "Alright," Ryoken agreed. "Make sure you eat when you get home."

Yusaku didn't know why he kept bringing that up, but nodded anyway, if only to appease him. "I will," he said, standing up to leave. "Bye, Ryoken." Just the act of standing up seemed to take so much of his energy away, but he knew the walk home would at least help clear his head.

Everything was going too fast and too slow at the same time. The longer they waited to try and find everyone, the more they had to suffer. But if they went in too fast, there was always the possibility they would have to suffer for longer if they failed. No matter which path they chose, it seemed like neither option was right. The idea of everyone in that same hell that had haunted him for years - some of which were going through it for a second time - was enough to drain him, but the fact that he had to choose to not go rushing to try and fix it…

It was almost more than he could take. He should've known that when Ai left, after everything that had happened, it wasn't a good sign. He should've tried harder to stop his partner. To save him from himself. How many times had Ai been there for him, even when Yusaku had been steadfast in his refusal to call him even just a _friend_? No matter what, Ai had been there for Yusaku through his journey.

He stopped, staring out at Stardust Road. It was dark, that night, and the ocean wasn't lit up in its namesake beauty. Despite the streetlights not too far from him, looking at the ocean made it seemed like the night went on forever.

* * *

**Notes**

Hopefully it'll be out sooner, but again, next chapter out in no later than **two weeks**! With NaNo around the corner, I should be able to update a biiiit more frequently - or at the very least, get a decent backlog going. Thank you for reading, as always, and hope you enjoyed this one!


	3. link bound

**Notes**

Hello! I am so sorry! I have been sitting on this chapter for a week and a half, ngl, I just kept rewriting the duel, and actually ended up cutting like...the majority of it OTL I'm so sorry pff. I've also been working crazy hours, and the only break I've really gotten I spent playing Pokemon the night it released LOL. But! I'm about two thirds into the fourth chapter, so theoretically the wait shouldn't be long!

Thank you so much for your patience. This chapter probably doesn't make up for it, but I hope you like it anyway!

* * *

The little drone came down, a complete meal - if one could even call it that - sitting on top of it, and Aoi couldn't help but dig in almost immediately after it landed. She had heard, a few times, about the Lost Incident before, from both Fujiki and Miyu, but even still, she hadn't been prepared.

Never had she ever experienced something like this. Growing up, after her parents died, had not been easy. She and Akira had often stayed in probably some illegal warehouses; where Akira would leave her with just her book and her stuffed animal for hours upon hours so he could make some money for them to survive. Hot food was a luxury, and the only real friend she had was Miyu.

Back then, though, she relied on Akira. Her older brother by choice, who had stepped up to the role and refused to let her suffer for long. Before she knew it, they had found themselves a home to come back to and she began going to school and living like a normal child once more.

This was something completely different. She'd been too young to fight for her own survival, then, but Miyu hadn't been given that luxury. In a way, Aoi was almost glad - Playmaker, Soulburner, and Miyu had all went through this before, when they were too young to even comprehend it. And yet they had stuck it out, and tried their best to recover and move on with their lives. Now, she could at least say she understood a little better.

She'd never in her life claim to know what this was like ten years ago though. Ten years ago, they had been kidnapped off the street and forced into this hell as nothing but children. Ten years ago, they had fought day in and day out, without knowing why or how much time had passed or if they'd ever be saved or see their families again.

Putting the metal plate back down on the drone, Aoi breathed a heavy sigh before turning back to the old fashioned VR headset she'd thrown on the ground. Unlike Miyu ten years ago, Aoi knew she would survive this.

And when she got out, she would go to Miyu first thing, and apologize. Not because she thought she had ever tried to overstep with her, but apologize for not being there when her friend had needed her the most. Aqua had once told her that the thought of getting to see her again and getting to make things right between them had kept Miyu going during the original Lost Incident. Now it was _Miyu _that would give Aoi the strength to get through this.

And hopefully, the cycle would never have to repeat itself again.

* * *

"So," Miyu tried, drumming her fingers along the windowsill as she spoke, "have you thought at all about how you're customizing your avatar?"

The ride home thus far had been painfully silent, and despite the lack of traffic, it was still a ways to the Den City hospital from Stardust Road. Miyu had always been kind of a talkative girl, even after the Lost Incident, and found that the silence especially wore on her after long days.

And long it had been.

Dueling against the AI Revolver had created, Pandor, almost felt like a faraway dream at that point. It hadn't even happened an hour ago, but she could barely remember the details of the duel. That wasn't terribly uncommon for her, but she knew that she needed to start if she was going to be of any use to Aoi.

It wasn't like Jin's lack of a memory. Miyu was aware her issues with remembering her plays during a duel had to do with her own anxiety. Her brain just couldn't store the information when she was in a duel, anymore.

"Not really," Jin finally replied after a moment. "I don't really care, honestly. Link VRAINS doesn't interest me."

"Not even a little?" Miyu asked, tilting her head. "What if it helped you get your memories back?"

Shifting his eyes from his own window to hers, Jin shrugged. "I've thought about it," he admitted. "I doubt it would, though."

Truthfully, she didn't know much about Jin at all. She'd learned he was a Kusanagi, and that apparently meant that his brother was one of the closest people to Yusaku. His brother also owned a hot dog stand that Aoi apparently frequented.

She also knew that he was the first victim of the Lost Incident, and was traumatized the most out of all of them without question. He'd somehow lost his memories of the event, however, and was trying to figure out where to go from there.

But that was the extent of her knowledge. She wasn't at all familiar with him as person, and unlike with Yusaku and Ryoken, she couldn't get a good read on him. Yusaku had been easy to figure out, for her - they were more alike than she'd thought when he first stepped foot into her hospital room the night before. She felt like she'd known him for a long time, though they'd only met a day ago.

Ryoken, on the other hand, was a quiet person. He held himself well, as Revolver, but as Ryoken, he seemed out of place, almost. Though he was her kidnapper, Miyu held no ill will towards him at this point. She was a quick judge of character, and she trusted Aoi's decision to work with him in the past regardless.

He frustrated her, for sure, and it made her quick to snap at him, but she didn't _hate _him. In fact, she was rather certain if given the time, she might even grow to appreciate him as a friend.

But Jin, with his memory issues and all, was a complete mystery to her.

"Well," she said after a pause, "maybe it will. Do you even want to remember?" She scrunched up her nose at the thought. While the Lost Incident was horrible, it shaped her into who she was today. Miyu wasn't sure if she'd want to forget it now, but if it had just happened to happen…

Well, she wasn't sure she'd be so keen on looking for her lost memories herself. If it had happened to her, she might've just let it go. She loved who she was today, and how she was able to help and understand a variety of people because of what she'd went through, but the nightmares, the anxiety, the pain...

Maybe it would be nice, she thought.

Jin's eyes leveled with her, and whatever he found in them, he frowned. "Wouldn't you?" He asked, but the way he said it made Miyu think he knew the answer to his own question.

* * *

Once they arrived at the hospital, Jin was quick to leave the car, and didn't wait for Miyu. He knew Pandor, who had driven them there, was fine on her own to help the girl back into her chair, and he wasn't in any mood to wait around for her.

It was a lot. A lot to take in, and a lot to try and understand. For ten long years, Jin had barely interacted with anyone. Just his nurses, his brother, and as of very recently, occasionally Yusaku and Homura Takeru.

That day, he'd interacted with people he didn't know, _dueled_, and even tried to have an actual conversation multiple times throughout the day. While he didn't remember _why _he had been so scared of it, before, it still wore him out. His body and mind simply weren't used to it.

When he reached his room, Jin almost instantly flopped himself on the bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off yet. How long would he have to live in a hospital room by himself? Would his parents even want him back, anymore?

It was something Shoichi hadn't really ever talked to him about. His memory was, obviously, quite foggy, but he couldn't remember even seeing or hearing about them _once_.

Before the Lost Incident, Jin vaguely remembered them being busy, but caring parents. He couldn't imagine them just throwing him to the curb once he became comatose, but all signs seemed to be pointing towards that.

Once he saved Shoichi, he would have to ask about them. He had a feeling the nurses wouldn't tell him a thing if he went to them, and he couldn't exactly look them up - his duel disk was ancient, and he wasn't allowed access to computers or any newer VR tech. Jin even had to hide the deck that he _had_.

With a sigh, he forced himself back out of the bed and began his nightly routine. He understood, at the core, that his brother was going through something horrible for his sake, but he was almost thankful for it.

Thankful not for Shoichi's suffering, but for the opportunity that it presented to him. It sounded cold, even in his own head, but Jin couldn't help it.

He couldn't even remember _why _he was supposed to be afraid for Shoichi in the first place, after all.

Oh, he knew the basic idea. When Yusaku and Ryoken had first visited him, on instinct, he had a panic attack. But once his body had calmed down, he had called Ryoken first thing, and expressed his desire to help.

He loved Shoichi. He really did - his brother had seemingly given up everything for his own sake. Even if Jin didn't care about his brother, he would at least owe it to him to help after everything he'd done for him. But even besides that, it was a fantastic chance to learn about what had happened to him. _Why _he was stuck the way he was. Why he could remember the past ten years, but nothing from that six month period of apparent terror.

* * *

"You're early." Ryoken's voice was the first thing he heard as he stepped into the mansion. "I'm surprised."

Yusaku rolled his eyes, and put up a hand as greeting. He had hoped he wasn't early, and that the others had understood the importance of finishing this mission as quickly as possible, but he supposed it wasn't as easy for them to get there. Both were coming from the hospital, and had to wait for Ryoken's rides. He could just walk whenever he pleased.

"When will the others be here?" Yusaku asked instead of responding. "I want to get this over with."

It was Ryoken's turn to roll his eyes. "Eat first," he said, gesturing to the large room they had used the other night. "You'll be no use if you collapse halfway through."

It was true, but Yusaku refused to acknowledge it - or take Ryoken's food. It felt odd to be cared for by him, when he could barely even consider the two of them _friends_. Obviously, he wanted that - wanted _something _he couldn't name from the other boy - but they weren't there yet. Mostly _because _of Ryoken.

Was this his way of trying? Yusaku wasn't sure, and he wasn't convinced it was. Everything was always about the mission to Ryoken. It was in his best interest, as he had just said, for him to be well fed and reliable while they were dueling.

"Not hungry," he said, despite the fact that he'd barely eaten anything since everything had happened. "I had food at my apartment."

Ryoken studied him for a moment, as if wondering what the correct response would be. Yusaku wondered if he knew he was lying. "Fine," he finally said, the word feeling heavy in the room. "The food is there if you change your mind."

The way his voice sounded made Yusaku think this wasn't just something he was doing with an ulterior motive, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. Things were far too stressful at the moment for him to be able to think about these things with a clear mind. If he let himself, Yusaku knew he would latch onto the kindness just like he did as a child. As nice as it sounded, it was better to keep himself realistic about the situation. He could enjoy Ryoken's company and how he felt like he could finally _breathe _when it was just the two of them, but he wouldn't push it.

So Yusaku sat down, trying his best to get comfortable unlike the night before. Ryoken's face shifted from disappointment to something else as he did so, but didn't join him.

"The others will be here in approximately fifteen minutes," he said, finally answering his question from earlier. "I doubt we'll be able to finish this in one go, however."

Yusaku frowned, knowing the older boy had a point. Jin and Miyu were unused to traversing through Link VRAINS, and on top of that, had weak bodies from their respective traumas. Obviously Jin was recovering, now, but those kinds of changes didn't just happen overnight. On top of that, they truly had no idea where to even start looking for Ai. They could only hope he came looking for _them _to give themselves any kind of lead.

Their evening could just be traveling aimlessly in different directions through VR space, and Yusaku hated that realization. It was frustrating, incredibly so, not knowing where to start or where to begin. He was reminded of when Lightning had stolen Jin's consciousness; back before Yusaku had any clue what was going on with the other Ignis. Back then, he knew nothing, and was just trying his hardest to find out any and all information he could. This, he had a feeling, would be similar.

"Do you have any leads on who Ai is using in place of Windy's origin?" Yusaku asked, breaking the silence that had surrounded them.

To his dismay, however, Ryoken shook his head. "Unfortunately not," he said, his own frustration palpable. "Zaizen has not found anything, and neither have I."

Yusaku knew there was no possibility of Ai just letting it go. He must've found someone he deemed suitable as a replacement, but the question was who. Windy's origin was dead, and Ryoken would've likely looked into any immediate family members. On top of that, if Akira hadn't found any leads, it means that nobody else had been kidnapped or stolen off the street, or even just gone missing in Link VRAINS without returning to the real world.

There was the possibility he'd already found someone suitable before he attacked Queen, Yusaku supposed, but he wasn't sure. He seemingly collected all the pieces of his plan, so to speak, directly after defeating the Zaizen siblings.

Rubbing at his eyes with the palms of his hands, Yusaku let out a heavy sigh. He'd been doing that a lot, lately. "I hate this," he whispered, hating how tired he sounded. "I'm so tired. I just want to sleep."

That was how he'd felt directly after facing Kusanagi, in one of the hardest fights of his entire life. Kusanagi was someone who had been with him since the early days of Playmaker. Back before he'd been using that name, even. After that duel, he'd collapsed onto the ground, and the only reason he hadn't been taken back then was because of Ai and Bohman's weird pride.

"Me, too," Ryoken replied, and Yusaku was surprised to hear how weary he sounded. "This was never how things were supposed to go."

They were both silent for a moment, but Yusaku couldn't help himself. He sat himself up a little to look Ryoken straight in the eyes. "How were things supposed to go?"

Ryoken ran a hand through his hair. "Once we were sure that the Dark Ignis wasn't going to be a threat, or that you could handle it if things got out of control, the Knights of Hanoi were going to turn ourselves in and live the rest of our lives in jail," he said. Out of anything Ryoken could've said, this was certainly not the answer Yusaku had been expecting. "My father is dead. The other Ignis are gone. Our mission would've been fulfilled, and I could've atoned for my sins in peace."

"What sins?" Without thinking, Yusaku stood up to be more on Ryoken's level. While the older boy was still taller than him, it wasn't by much. When they stood like this, they felt like equals in Yusaku's mind. "What do you have to pay for, Ryoken? You weren't the one who kidnapped-"

"Wasn't I?" Ryoken interrupted, a dead smile on his face. It was much like the last time they'd gotten into a personal conversation in that house; up another floor as Ryoken talked about how he regretted saving him all those years ago. Yusaku knew that wasn't true, but just like then, the words still hurt his heart. "I was directly involved."

"You were _eight_," Yusaku stressed. "You have nothing to pay for."

Scoffing, Ryoken shook his head. "The Tower of Hanoi?" He asked in response. "Nearly wiping out thousands of innocent civilians and my own _family _to get rid of the Ignis?"

Yusaku shook his head, but before he could reply, he heard a squeak. The two of them turned around to see an awkward looking Miyu and a passive Jin standing in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt," Miyu said, wheeling herself into the room. Yusaku let go of the fist he'd formed, and dropped himself back into the seat. "Are you guys ready?"

Jin soon followed her, hands in his pockets. Both Yusaku and Ryoken stayed quiet for a moment, before Ryoken pointed at the food out on the table. "Eat," he told them, walking towards the door. "Once you're finished, we can go."

Before Yusaku could stop him, Ryoken left the room. Miyu was obviously a bit uncomfortable, but she didn't press him for answers; instead digging in to the pizza and snacks that Ryoken had gotten for them that day. Jin shrugged, following suit.

With another sigh, Yusaku pushed himself further into the couch he'd sat at. He was in for another long day, it seemed.

* * *

"I've installed apps onto all of your duel disk that allows for communication," Ryoken explained after they'd all had their share of the food. It had taken far too long for Yusaku's liking, but he had no right to say anything - he knew he needed their help to finish this out. "If you begin a duel, say something _immediately_."

Miyu scowled at that. "Haven't we proven ourselves enough?" She asked, eyes narrowing at him. "I thought that was the entire point of yesterday."

Ryoken shook his head. "It's not about that," he said. "It's important to know what is happening with your allies at all times in case someone goes down."

It was likely what the Knights were used to doing, Yusaku realized. He'd never really thought about how close they all were, but after his conversation with Ryoken earlier, he'd started to understand. It made sense - with Ryoken's dad being the way he was, the Knights had likely stepped up to raise Ryoken in his place. Spectre, too, after he had joined them. Even with how they clearly viewed Ryoken as their leader aside, they obviously cared for him deeply.

"That's fine," Jin said, trying to defuse anything before it could even start. "Is there anything else?"

Ryoken shook his head again. "That's all." Raising his duel disk, he logged in, not bothering to wait for the rest of the group. None of them took long following him.

* * *

Playmaker looked around, trying to find some kind of landmark. Trying to decide on a meeting place was difficult when there was nothing around but empty space that seemingly never ended. "I don't think this is going to work," he finally said, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side. "We have the communication app. We should just go."

"Are we working in groups or are we just going aimlessly?" Miyu asked, rocking back and forth on her feet. She was clearly anxious to get going, and Playmaker understood the sentiment.

"You and Jin should stay together," Revolver said, his D-Board materializing under his feet. "Keep your lines open and remember to inform us of any duel you may enter."

Without another word, he sped off, and Playmaker didn't wait around for the others to answer. He couldn't let Revolver be the one to face Ai, he knew, so he had decided that he would follow him early on. Jin and Miyu were likely smart enough not to face him by themselves, and Pandor had already lost to him once. She may have improved since then, but Playmaker had a feeling she would be cautious and call for back up.

With that in mind, he had no problem taking off after Revolver. Despite what Ryoken had said earlier, Playmaker had hope that they could finish the mission today if they got lucky. The longer he avoided facing Ai, the harder it would get to do so.

* * *

"Fancy meeting you here."

Playmaker and Revolver both froze, their D-Boards coming to a halt. Blinking, Playmaker tried to make sense of what was in front of him, but found he couldn't.

Asking who was in front of them was pointless - there was only one possible explanation, and Playmaker felt his mouth go dry and his heart drop into his stomach as he realized it. It was too real, too lifelike, and far too evil for it to be anyone _but _Ai's doing.

It felt horrible thinking of his partner that way, but he knew it had to be his doing. The avatar in front of them was a carbon copy of Ghost Girl, all the way down to how she stood and the teasing look in her eyes. Even her D-Board was her own purple one, and not the purple and gold that he'd seen Ai use before.

"Dark Ignis." Revolver's tone was harsh, and Playmaker narrowed his eyes - both at what was in front of him, and at how Revolver still treated Ai like he wasn't a _person_. "Stop this charade. You are only delaying the inevitable."

In front of them, Ghost Girl rolled her eyes, but even Playmaker could see there was something unnatural about the movement. Even without knowing what he did, he thought he would've noticed it wasn't _really _his somewhat ally before them; similar to so long ago, when she took over Blue Angel's avatar to try and lure Playmaker in.

That felt like a lifetime ago.

"But where's the fun in that?" Even if Playmaker hadn't figured it out, at that point, it was obvious. "I thought you'd like fighting someone other than my clones again!" Ai pouted using Ghost Girl's lips, placing a hand on her hip. "Plus, it's never fun to face the same deck so many times. I don't want you to get bored of Ignister, after all!"

It didn't seem possible. Nothing they'd seen of Ai's newer abilities had told them he could use the people he'd taken out in this way - even use their deck, from the sound of it. It was unsettling, and much like everything else that had been happening, it put Playmaker on edge.

Revolver, too, if the way that he clutched his fists tightly at his side had anything to say about it. Without thinking - and really, Playmaker knew he shouldn't but didn't bother to stop himself - he brought a single hand up to Revolver's shoulder, his D-Board dipping slightly with the movement. It was meant to be reassuring, but Revolver nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact.

Just as Playmaker was about to take back his hand, however, Revolver nodded at him. Whether it was in response to the comforting touch or something else Playmaker wasn't sure, but he left his hand firmly on Revolver's shoulder and the older boy didn't shake him off.

Ai, however, sneered at it. The expression on Ghost Girl's face felt _wrong_. He'd seen her make a variety of expressions, including some pretty aggravated or angry ones, but she was usually a laid back person who took things as they came. She took her job seriously, but she never looked like _that_.

"I would call up my _brother_," Ai said, "but he's a bit busy dealing with the lovely Pandor at the moment." _Brother _could only mean Blood Shepherd, and Playmaker prayed that the AI Revolver had created could handle Ai in the bounty hunter's mask. It was sheer irony that the reanimated Blood Shepherd would be facing off against an AI, but somehow, Playmaker thought it was planned. "Hope you don't M-_Ai_-nd."

Playmaker finally removed his hand from Revolver, leveling his gaze on his former rival. "We don't both need to be here," he said, already feeling exhausted over what would likely be a fight. "I'll go ahead and see if I can track down Ai. I know you can handle this."

He braced himself for Revolver's disagreement, but it never came. "Fine," Revolver told him instead. "I will catch up with you shortly. This shouldn't take long."

From across the soon-to-be battlefield, Ai's expression turned back into a sly smile. That was something they were more familiar with seeing on Ghost Girl, but the movements weren't quite right. "Oho!" Ai exclaimed, maneuvering his D-Board a bit closer to Revolver's side. "Confident, are you, Professor Revolver?"

Revolver's expression, however, didn't change at the bait. "I will crush you." Turning to Playmaker for just a moment, he motioned for him to leave with a small wave of his right hand. "Go," he said simply, turning back around to face his opponent head on.

"Good luck," Playmaker said, but before he could even speed off into the distance, an all-too familiar body stopped him.

It tsked, and Revolver froze next to him. "Where do you think you're going?" It asked in Spectre's voice. "It's no fun if you leave!"

In an instant, Playmaker felt the air leave his lungs. It was one thing to see Ai using Ghost Girl, but _Spectre_… He hadn't even considered the possibility, since Spectre was likely currently dueling for his life somewhere far, far away.

Revolver's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his fists shook at his side. He'd had his hands up when Playmaker had been leaving, but seeing Spectre being controlled by Ai must've slackened them quickly.

"Dark Ignis," Revolver seethed, "drop this nonsense right now, and duel us properly!"

Playmaker couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. It was too much. Everything Ai had been doing lately was crossing too many lines, but this was something else. It wasn't on the level of restarting the Lost Incident, obviously, but using their fallen friends and allies like this… using people that _Ai _had once considering allies and friends like this…

He swallowed harshly. He was going to be sick. "Ai," Playmaker said, his voice shaking slightly, "why are you doing this?"

Both Ai copies stopped at his words. "You still haven't given up on me?" They both said in sync. Hearing either of their voices sounding so vulnerable felt like a violation of their privacy, somehow.

"I would never." Playmaker's words were absolute, but he knew even after all this, he just wanted Ai back to normal. Wanted everything to _go _back to normal. The longer this went on, the farther and farther away he was ripped away from that dream. "Ai. Just talk to me."

The Ai copy using Spectre frowned, taking over for the moment. For a long, long moment, Playmaker thought he might've gotten through. "No," he said, shaking his head and killing what remaining hope Playmaker had for the encounter. "You wouldn't understand. Bes-_Ai_-des," he continued, wagging one of Spectre's fingers, "it doesn't matter now, anyway. I'm too far gone. Wouldn't you agree, Professor Revolver?"

Ai's attention was redirected towards Revolver, who had brought his duel disk up. His glare towards Spectre's face told more than Playmaker thought he meant to. "It doesn't matter," Revolver answered. "Are you ready to duel?"

Though the question wasn't directed towards him, Playmaker brought his duel disk up. For whatever reason, Revolver had decided to spare his feelings towards Ai - _it doesn't matter _coming from Revolver was essentially the same as saying _it's not up to me, _Playmaker realized.

Even in the current situation, where he felt like he was about to break, a small and comforting warmth spread over him at the realization. "Let's duel!" He called out, voice lost among the other three.

* * *

"Will you show me Nabee this time, Pandor?"

The person in front of her donned Blood Shepherd's avatar, but the words told her all she needed to know about who she was about to face. "Ai," Pandor greeted the Ignis with a nod. "I was not aware you could do this."

In the back of her mind, she worried over her other comrades. She could run calculations all day about how well they would fare against _Ai's _deck, considering how many times she'd seen it, but she hadn't bothered to run any against Blood Shepherd's drones, or any of their other fallen allies, and she most definitely didn't have time to do so. It was likely that the others had already been found.

She also felt somewhat bad for the person of the avatar Ai was using. From what she knew of Blood Shepherd, he hated AIs due to a personal experience. She didn't know him very well personally, but she could understand that. AIs were not something to be trusted in a lot of circumstances - that was part of the reason she was created in the first place. Ryoken had to have an AI he knew he could trust.

Ai shrugged, with a very off casualness for the body he was using. "I'm just a clone," he said, though it was apparent he didn't feel very put off by it. "_Ai_ figured this would be more fun than just facing everyone with the same deck again. I don't want anyone getting bored of my babies!"

The teasing lilt in Blood Shepherd's voice had even Pandor feeling unsettled; an emotion she was not used to feeling. Despite her advanced programming, she was still _new_, and still figuring out how to function and live. Ai knew this, and she knew he was likely playing off of that.

"It does not matter," she told him, bringing up her duel disk. "I will defeat you this time, regardless of which body or deck you are using."

Revolver had made it clear to her that she had to figure out her own path in life. After this was over and dealt with, she was free to do whatever she pleased. He had written her program to ensure that she would not turn against the human race, but other than that, her life was hers to live. In a way, dueling Ai originally had been eye opening for her, and she hoped she would understand more from dueling him again.

Rolling his shoulders once, Ai brought up Blood Shepherd's arm and nodded at her; the expressionless mask on his face almost similar to how Pandor's face could not move in a normal, human manner. "Let's get right to it, then!" He called out, and she nodded in response. "Let's duel!"

* * *

Miyu felt a bit clumsy on her D-Board, but there was also something nice about it. In the real world, her body was so weak from the months she had been in a coma - and from her childhood. She'd always been kind of weak after the Lost Incident, the only sports she'd been able to preform well in were things like swimming. The doctors that saw her had repeatedly explained that she'd need months and months of physical therapy before regaining full use of her legs, and also lots of rest and food.

She wondered if traversing virtual reality space counted as _rest _for her physical body. Technically speaking, she wasn't exactly _moving_, so she supposed it was better than the real life duels she was used to.

Jin, on the other hand, seemed to be a natural. Maybe he was just good at faking it, though, she realized, since his body had been catatonic for an entire _decade_. She didn't know what exactly had happened to him during the Lost Incident, but she knew it was something different. The experience was horrible, and she was sure it effected them all each day, but that was something different.

"Doing okay?" He called out to her, twisting himself to be able to look at her. He stumbled a bit as he did so, and Miyu knew just from that he _had _been faking it.

She shrugged, pulling herself up next to him. It wasn't quite like surfing, which she had done a few times before, but the balance was at least similar in some respects. "Hanging in there," Miyu told him, glancing around in the vast emptiness of wherever they were. "Hopefully I'll manage in a duel!"

Jin's eyes widened, having apparently forgotten all about the fact that people _dueled _atop of those things. "We'll see how it goes," he said after a minute.

The more he spoke, the less Miyu understood about him. One second, he seemed kind and caring and like an all around good kid. The very next, he seemed off kilter; like he didn't understand his own thoughts sometimes.

And maybe he didn't, Miyu conceded in her head. He had essentially woken up from a nightmare he couldn't remember, only to find out that he'd been barely living for the past ten years. He had all _those _experiences and patterns ingrained into him, but he couldn't remember the _why_.

"It took me a bit to get used to it, too!"

Both Miyu and Jin froze, looking around to find out the source of the voice. It was one neither of them seemed to recognize, but that wasn't exactly unusual. Neither of them had the encounters that Playmaker and Revolver had before concerning their opponents.

Floating down casually on their D-Board, Roboppy stood proudly, with their hands on their hips. "It's kinda funky, isn't it?" They said, laughing a bit to themselves. "Well, it might take you a bit longer to be as great as I am on it," Roboppy amended after a moment when neither Jin nor Miyu said anything in return. "AI are superior to humans, so it makes sense. You can try, though!"

Miyu frowned, trying to remember who their opponent was, until it connected in her head. "You're Yusaku's cleaning robot," Miyu realized in awe. He'd said that Ai had managed to create free will within his house robot, but he hadn't gone into much detail besides _don't underestimate them_ _if you encounter them. _"Roboppy, right?"

It was kind of surreal, knowing that the very human looking avatar in front of them had once been a robot meant to sweep the floors. If Ai could create free will in other, very low quality AIs, Miyu wondered in the back of her head why he had to recreate the Lost Incident to remake his friends. The Ignis were different, obviously - that much was apparent by his ability to create free will in another AI - but the point still remained. If that was _true _free will and understanding, it should've been possible to do it without the need for kidnapping people.

Roboppy lit up, however. "You know me! Am I getting famous?" They asked, zipping from left to right on their D-Board without a care in the world. "I hope Big Brother knows how great I'm becoming! He'll be so proud!"

Jin frowned deeply. "Why are you here?" He asked, crossing his arms into a more defensive position.

"Isn't it obvious?" Roboppy said in response, raising their duel disk up. "I'm here to stop you!"

* * *

"Revolver," Pandor said, speaking through the app he'd installed into all of their duel disks, "I am about to engage an Ai clone."

She could hear Revolver swear through the app. "Is the Dark Ignis," he paused, as if he couldn't figure out what words to ask, but Pandor instantly knew what he meant.

"He is using Blood Shepherd's body," she said, and she could see Ai snickering as she spoke, even with the mask on. "I will report back when I am finished."

There was a long silence, but before Pandor could turn her full attention to her opponent, Revolver spoke up once more. "Don't lose," was all he said before ending the connection.

She'd known Revolver from the day she'd been created - he was her creator, after all, and oversaw her programming almost entirely by himself. She wasn't particularly attached to him, not in the same way the rest of the Knights were at least, but the sentiment still made her feel…

Something. She wasn't really sure. The emotions she was allowed to feel ranged so drastically, and she was still getting used to all of them. The feeling wasn't bad, however. It almost felt _warm_.

"Talking to Daddy Revolver about me?" Ai called out, and Pandor shook herself out of her thoughts in an instant. "That's k-_Ai_-nd of sweet, actually."

"Is it?" Pandor asked, genuinely curious. While Ai gone off the deep end, so to speak, he'd had a lot longer to adjust to human customs and how they worked.

She wondered, in the back of her mind, if it had been hard for him to adjust. From what Revolver had said and what she'd picked up on back when she'd been working with Aoi Zaizen, Ai had always been more of a free spirit. From early clips she'd studied of Playmaker's duels, he seemingly had a large personality right from the start.

Of course, he'd had years of running away from Hanoi to develop it; and even longer counting the time he spent in Cyberse before it was destroyed. She'd only been _alive _for maybe three months, then, and that was nothing in comparison to even Revolver or Playmaker.

After a moment, Ai shook his head, gesturing to her. "You take the first turn," he said, still motioning with his hands. "Don't bore me."

His tone had changed, and Pandor noticed immediately. Any lightheartedness he'd been speaking with was gone, and his eyes were narrowed in on her duel disk. "Alright," she agreed, looking at the cards in her hand. "As we both have 4000 LP, I special summon Topologina Babee from my hand!" Pandor called out, special summoning the monster into Defense Position.

In the time between their last duel and their current one, she hadn't tweaked her deck much - she hadn't had the time. Between Ai kidnapping the rest of their allies and having to test Jin and Miyu's skills while also playing personal driver for the two of them, she hadn't exactly had a minute to fix anything. The only thing she could hope was that she was able to play better now that she knew more of what to expect from the Ignis.

Looking at her hand, she still had quite a few different directions she could go. Zeroboros was really her only new addition, but Pandor wasn't sure how effective it would be against Ai's current deck. She hadn't done much studying on Blood Shepherd and his play style, considering he was working with them and despised AI more than even Revolver. It was better than any of her other options, considering she'd drawn into a hand full of Monster cards.

"Since I control a special summoned _Topologina _monster, I will special summon out Topologina Maybee as well," Pandor decided, "and then I will use Topologina Babee and Topologina Maybee to Link Summon Topologina Sassabee!"

"This is nostalgic," Ai mused, interrupting her concentration. "Will you finally show me Nabee, Pandor?"

She shook her head. "I do not understand what you are talking about," she said, pausing for a minute before continuing. "And I do not think it has been long enough since our last duel to consider this nostalgic." That was the part of his statement that confused her the most. The same, empty sadness he'd had in the last duel was so clear in that sentence.

Pandor gave Ai a moment to respond, and when he didn't, she continued on with her turn. "I will then banish both Topologina Babee and Topologina Maybee from my graveyard to special summon Topologina Bambee," she continued, "and I then reveal Topologina Gatsbee from my hand, and send a second Topologina Babee to my Graveyard to special summon it!"

Once she had completed the special summons, she looked at her field and nodded to herself. It wasn't the best starting hand she could've had - any of her Traps or Spells would've been helpful since she wasn't at all familiar with Blood Shepherd's Drone deck - but she was trying to make the most of it.

"Appear! The future circuit that guides us!" Pandor recited, bringing her now cardless hand upwards. "I set Topologina Sassabee, Topologina Bambee, and Topologina Gatsbee in the link markers!" Watching as her monsters disappeared into the light, she nodded to herself again, satisfied with her plan. "Link summon! Appear, Topologic Zeroboros!"

Before her now flew a great dragon, floating menacingly in the empty void of virtual reality space between she and Ai. Revolver had, again, gifted her this card, telling her to make good use of it before he'd set off a few nights ago to meet Yusaku Fujiki at the Den City hospital. Her deck was specifically designed Cyberse cards, made partially as an attempt to see how well Revolver had known the Ignis algorithm and partially to see if it were even possible. Zeroboros was originally one he had made for himself, but decided it would be better suited with her. She hadn't known how to feel about that then, and she still didn't, looking at the impressive beast in front of her.

It was mildly uncomfortable to see Blood Shepherd's body _wiggle _a little at the sight, however. "That's a new one," Ai said, marveling at the sight. The difference in voice highlighted how different Ai and Blood Shepherd were, and Pandor wondered how Ai felt about using another person's body like he was.

"Zeroboros gains 200 Attack Points for each banished card," Pandor explained, watching as it gained 400 points, "and if a monster is summoned to an Extra Monster Zone it points to, all cards on the field are banished. I end my turn."

Ai whistled lowly, eyeing the new monster. It was not the most impressive field she could've come up with, but it was something, and it would at least prevent him from doing a few things, she thought. With two Topologinas banished and four in her Graveyard, it also kept options open for her for her next turn - assuming she'd see it, that is.

There was one card in her deck that she had put in solely for the purpose of defeating Ai, however. It, too, was a gift from Revolver: a new Topologina Spell card. If worse came to worst, Pandor knew she could at least use that to go for a mutual destruction of Life Points.

"My turn, then," Ai said, and though she couldn't see him under the mask, she had a feeling he was probably a little excited to face Zeroboros. At least she wasn't boring him. "I draw!"

* * *

The turn took longer than normal, as he was using someone else's deck, but Pandor wasn't surprised to find that Ai was quite skilled regardless. Throughout the duel, much to her honest surprise, they'd managed to keep themselves pretty even in terms of Life Points. They had both eaten up their extra decks to the bone, trying to grind through the other's resources as quickly as possible.

However, that wasn't going to last much longer. She had drawn into Topologina Snobee, one of the only Topolgina cards Ai hadn't seen from her yet. Calmly, she surveyed the field in front of her.

Last turn, Ai had ended things with Battledrone General still on the field. Pandor was sitting at 1900 Life Points, while Ai had 2100. She had been programmed to do nothing but hunt the Ignis and duel, and she was failing both of those points. When she'd lost to Ai before, part of her had honestly expected him to just delete her; or at the very least, rework her programming. She wouldn't have been offended - she was made to apprehend, or at least stop, the Dark Ignis.

Yet here she was, a second time failing to do so. This duel would end in a draw if he couldn't stop her next move, yes, but it wasn't the proper outcome. Especially not now, with people on the line. Before, Ai had seemingly only been after the SOL Tech executives.

This time, there were people he had forcibly taken to partake in another horrible experiment against their will.

"I banish Topolgina Snobee from my hand to activate its effect!" Pandor said, locking robotic eyes with the mask of Blood Shepherd. "When this card is banished, I can set a Trap from my deck so long as I only have one copy of it," she explained, already searching out the card she wanted.

If it were Ai in front of her, Pandor imagined he might raise his eyebrows at this development. "Still no Nabee, huh?" He asked, shaking his head. "Maybe next time, then."

Part of Pandor wanted to reply to that, but she was unsure of what to say. "I set Ring of Destruction, and end my turn."

Though he was wearing a mask, Pandor was sure he was staring at her hard. "I see," he said, drawing a card for the start of his turn. They both knew they had nothing else they could do. "I guess that's it for this duel, then. It was fun well it lasted!" Something sounded off in his voice, and she wasn't quite sure what.

Regardless, she had a question she needed to ask before finishing the duel. "Will I be under your control, too?" Pandor asked, looking at the field between them. They'd stopped moving for the moment, both just looking at each other. "I have assumed that you have figured out my coding, at this point in time."

When she'd faced Ai on top of the SOL Technologies airplane, she'd felt something for him. Ryoken had purposefully given him a way out, that she purposefully executed - she had sympathy for him. If he lost, or agreed to just run away and figure things out on his own without involving anyone else, things would be different.

Pandor still had that sympathy for him, even now. When they'd dueled before, she'd told him how she could sense his sadness. She still could, even while he was using someone else's avatar and deck. Even while his plan was already in motion and it was too late to stop. It was like this was a last resort to him, and she couldn't figure out _why_.

Ai shook his head. "Nah," he said with a casual shrug, not at all fitting of the tense atmosphere around them. "If I can almost beat you with someone else's deck, I don't think you're much of a threat, huh? Poor Professor Revolver," he laughed a little. "Should've studied my algorithm when he had the chance."

The two of them knew they were about to tie, and maybe that was why he was doing this. Still Pandor couldn't help but question him. Something about him made her want to understand. The emotions Ryoken had programmed in her were still too confusing for her to figure out, for the most part, and while she certainly wasn't a slave to them, she couldn't help herself.

"Why not?" She asked, trying to figure out anything she could from the way he held himself in Blood Shepherd's avatar. With the mask on, it made it difficult for her to read his emotions at all.

Ai shrugged again. "I don't know," he said, and Pandor knew he was being honest with her. "Maybe because I want Yusaku to come and stop me. Maybe because I've already gotten everything I needed for my plan, so I don't need to hurt anyone who won't hurt me."

"But I'm a direct threat to you," Pandor pressed. She had a feeling Ai was smiling underneath the mask.

"Are you, though?" Ai asked her, starting to move again on his D-Board. His monsters followed behind, and Pandor was quick to start after them. "You don't even know what you're f-_Ai_-ghting for," he said, wagging a finger. "You haven't even decided who you want to be."

It was eerily similar to the questions she'd asked Revolver directly after Ai had defeated the Zaizen siblings. He'd told her that she'd have to find her own place in this world, and that he couldn't control that. He'd given her the gift of free will - limited free will, but free will all the same. She was free to do with it as she pleased.

"You're right," Pandor admitted. "But I want to find out."

From ahead of her, Ai nodded. "That's why I don't want to take your data," he said, surprising Pandor. "As an AI, I can get it."

"If you're capable of showing this kind of sympathy-"

Ai laughed, cutting her off. It sounded robotic and off coming from Blood Shepherd's body. "I won't stop what I'm doing," he said, rolling his shoulders as he readjusted himself on his D-Board. "I have something I need to take care of. It's a shame, really," he continued, facing Pandor directly now. "I think we could've been friends."

She didn't say anything to that before activating Ring of Destruction, targeting Ai's Battledrone General. "Goodbye, Ai," she finally said, watching as both their Life Points dropped to 0.

* * *

Pandor sat silently after the forced log-out, staring out at the night sky. Ai had been different than the last time they'd dueled, but more so than that, _she'd _felt differently. During their first duel, she'd wanted to let him flee. Give him the chance to take off and run, and solve things on his own without the need to harm any others. If he had taken that chance, Pandor knew, things would've been much better for everyone involved.

Ai confused her. That much was obvious, but the more she researched him, the more they interacted and she tried to analyze, the more confused she became. He was an Ignis, yes, but he had coding. Her coding was based directly off of his. By that logic, she should've been able to at least understand why things had turned out so horribly.

And then, of course, was what he said to her at the end. _I think we could've been friends_. She was just starting to learn what that word meant. She was not friends with her creator, Revolver, but she thought they might be able to be, sometime in the future. The way Revolver interacted with Yusaku and Miyu made her think that he wanted to be friends with them as well.

But her, be friends with Ai? Pandor shook her head. Even before he had seemingly turned his back on humanity, she wasn't sure it was possible. From what she'd studied about him, he was so… _rowdy_. Her personality wasn't coded, not in the same way normal AI were, so this likely came from the Knights of Hanoi and how they carried themselves, but Pandor couldn't imagine letting herself go like that.

Maybe, she wondered, that was _why _he had said that. She shook her head, standing up and decided to head into the kitchen to prepare something small to eat for the others when they returned back into the real world. Thinking about Ai too much made her feel like she was running her circuitry in circles.

* * *

**Notes**

Man, I really liked the Pandor vs Ai duel a lot, but I wish we could've seen more Pandor duels. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have had to make up a card LOL. But anyways! I'm still shit at writing duels, but I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Next chapter shouldn't be too long from now, since I've been working on it when I couldn't get this where I wanted it to be.

Also, if you've been playing Pokemon, I miiiiight be writing some Bede/Gloria soon because I've fallen absolutely in love with them, haha, so if that's your thing, hopefully you check it out! Thanks so much for sticking with me and I'll see you next time.


	4. limit code

**Notes**

Hello again! This was actually supposed to be out yesterday, but I forgot after work I had friends coming over, so I didn't have time to write the last little bit haha. Oh well! Hope this brightens up your weekend! All that aside, NaNo is over, and I managed to finish a bunch of oneshots for upcoming Vrains events, which means most of my writing time will now be dedicated to this :D Thank you so much to everyone who has commented, favorited/left kudos, or even just reads this and enjoys it. Your support means the world to me and I'm so honored by the responses I've gotten :')

* * *

"This is going worse than I expected," the Ai using Ghost Girl's body joked, and Revolver's eyes narrowed at it. "I should've guessed that the two of you would be able to duel so well together."

In all honesty, Playmaker was surprised himself. He had expected Revolver to give a little more resistance to everything, or try harder to duel on his own without using any of Playmaker's resources, but he adapted quite well to the situation. Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the desire to speed through this as quickly as possible, but whatever it was didn't matter to Playmaker.

All that mattered, really, was the field in front of him as he drew for his next turn.

Spectre's deck was complicated as ever, and the new Extra Link mechanics that he'd put in back when he dueled Lightning had been irritating to deal with as well. The only saving grace to the situation was Altergeists did not synchronize with the Sunavalon archetype whatsoever. Most of Playmaker and Revolver's bigger Link Monsters took generic effect monsters, so they could use each other's fields with ease, but such was not the case for the two Ais in front of them.

That was the other reason Playmaker was surprised. Dealing with two Ais was uncomfortable, and the fact that they sometimes spoke in unison and sometimes spoke separately - and even sometimes spoke to _each other _\- unsettled him in a way he wasn't expecting it to. Ai had always been pretty chatty, that was part of the reason he had bonded with Roboppy in the first place despite its much weaker AI programming, but to hear how far gone he was that he was having entire conversations by himself…

It further reinforced Playmaker's thoughts that Ai was desperately, desperately lonely. He had thought his company - and Roboppy's, and Takeru's, and Kusanagi's - would've been enough for him, but even Playmaker could understand wanting someone around that was like _you_. It was the entire reason he had always felt more connected to Revolver than any other person on this planet, despite knowing most of the other Lost Incident victims at that point in time.

But even then, he couldn't wrap his head around what had made Ai truly snap. Playmaker felt that, before Bohman, Ai would've come to him about something like that. Over the course of their partnership, they'd grown much more comfortable talking to each other about those sorts of things. He still distinctly remembered that night when he told Ai that he should go back to Cyberse after everything was over, because humans weren't ready to have the Ignis yet, and he wasn't sure they ever would be.

He still wasn't sure, now, but he wished Ai would've trusted him enough to _talk_. To at least try and get him to understand what had happened, what had gone wrong. It _hurt_ not knowing.

It hurt having to duel him, despite the desire to work things out peacefully.

It hurt having to duel him at all.

* * *

"Aren't you your own person, now?" Jin asked, startling both Miyu and Roboppy. After Roboppy's declaration of being there to stop them, everything had gone silent. His voice was the thing that snapped them all out of whatever trance they had fallen into. "You don't have to listen to Ai, you know."

Quickly, Miyu caught onto what he was doing. She didn't agree, not really, but she could understand where he was coming from. If they didn't have to fight, it would be less grief for Yusaku. If they didn't have to fight, they could keep their search going.

Truthfully, though she talked a big game, Miyu wasn't fully prepared to duel any of them. The fact that she couldn't remember her plays in a duel was extremely detrimental to any sort of improvement she could make, and she was dueling with a new deck now. She wasn't familiar enough with the cards to have the combos memorized and the wit to execute them without taking her time, and especially not in a duel format she wasn't used to. Master Duels were the only type of dueling she'd ever done.

"That's true," Miyu chimed in, trying to put her thoughts to rest. "Roboppy, don't you have free will now?"

The AI put a finger to its chin, seemingly thinking about it. "I do!" They agreed, nodding with vigor. "But Big Brother has shown me how awful humans are," they continued, and Miyu felt a shiver run down her spine at the tone the AI took. "I'm using the free will Big Brother gave me to make sure they never do anything awful ever again!"

There were so many things they could've meant by _awful_, and Miyu was already growing frustrated trying to figure out _what_. The world was full of terrible people, but it was also full of people that wanted to make things right, too. And on top of that, Roboppy - who was supporting Ai - couldn't really talk. Ai had kidnapped people he had once considered allies and even _friends _to put them through a hell that should've never been repeated. To insinuate that somehow, humans were the only ones capable of wrongdoing pissed her off.

"That's ridiculous," Miyu said, narrowing her eyes despite being off balance on her D-Board still. "If you have free will-"

Jin cut her off smoothly, however. "What did Ai tell you about humans, Roboppy?"

The fact that he could keep a cool head even in a situation like this _also_ pissed Miyu off, though she wasn't sure exactly why. Was he not phased by hearing something like that come out of the AI's mouth, knowing exactly what they were on their mission _for_? She knew she was a particularly reactionary person, who tended to be ruled by her emotions rather than her head, but that didn't mean someone had to be _emotionless _to be rational.

It was why she had deemed Ryoken and Yusaku safe people. They had emotions, clearly, and a lot of them. They just knew how to reign them in to make sure they were making the correct decisions for a situation. They were _human_.

Sometimes, even though she didn't know Jin very well, she thought he acted more like an AI than Ai ever did.

"It doesn't matter," Miyu ground out before Roboppy or Jin had a chance to respond and stop her. "Roboppy, I'm sorry you've been so mislead. I'll prove to you that humans aren't all evil!"

For a moment, she thought that Jin would say something, either to her, Roboppy, or even to Revolver through their communication device. Instead, he said nothing, putting his arm into the dueling position. "Since you're so much more experienced than us," Jin said, stumbling a little on his D-Board in what was obviously for added effect, "why don't you take us both on at the same time?"

Roboppy didn't even have to think about it. "Perfect!" They exclaimed, maneuvering themselves a bit of a distance in order for a proper duel field to form. "Big Brother will be so impressed when I take you _both _out, just like he was with Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd!"

It was such a careless statement that Miyu couldn't help but shiver again. This AI had really once been nothing but a cleaning robot, and now it was speaking about taking people out like it was not a big deal at all. Like it was the right thing to do.

She wasn't sure what, exactly, Ai had fed to Roboppy in order for this to happen to them, but she was determined to not only prove herself, but to make things right. Knock out two birds with one stone, as they said, Miyu supposed.

"Let's duel!" She shouted out, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Hopefully, between both her and Jin, they would be able to win this.

* * *

Playmaker surveyed the field in front of him. After the last turn, the only monster that remained on the field was Exslayer. Revolver had one set card, and Playmaker had three cards in his hand - including Metal Molephosis and Polymerization.

"Revolver," Playmaker said quietly, making sure to keep his voice down so the Ais didn't hear him, "what's in your Extra Deck right now?"

With the cards he currently had, he wasn't sure if it was possible to summon out his either of his Fusion Monsters. Besides Cyberse Clock Dragon, he had thrown in Diplexer Chimera into his Extra Deck as well, but it wasn't a good card for the situation. He wanted to end this duel as soon as possible.

Revolver raised an eyebrow, but didn't turn to look at him. "I have a Borreload for each summoning type," he replied in a low tone. "What are you planning?"

It was a weird feeling to hear Revolver being so agreeable over a duel, but Playmaker counted his blessings. As used to Revolver's contrary attitude as he was, a tag duel meant that the two of them had to work together to balance resources to win. It was good to see that he knew that.

"I'm going to use your Fusion Monster," Playmaker told him, narrowing his eyes at the bodies that Ai was possessing at the moment. Seeing Ghost Girl and even _Spectre _being used like this made him sick to his stomach. "Appear!" He called, watching as Exslayer began to glow. "The circuit that leads to the future! I set Exslayer in the link marker!" It was a bit of a risky play, considering he didn't know exactly what kind of Fusion Monster Revolver had, but knowing his previous rival, it would be strong. "Link summon! Appear, Linkross!"

The odd looking monster stood strong in the Extra Monster Zone, the light from the summon fading away. Playmaker and Revolver's side of the field had three Monster Zones open, which was just what Playmaker would need for what he was about to do. He looked over to Revolver, who nodded at him.

Even then, during the duel, the level of trust Revolver placed in him made him feel warm. There was still so much they had to figure out, between the two of them - namely, Playmaker thought, the fact that Revolver had decided to live the rest of his life in _prison _\- but despite that, they still could put those things aside and work together seamlessly. The last few days had been absolute hell on earth, and he was still coming to terms with the fact that his partner had kidnapped his allies and friends only to put them through the same thing that had taken his childhood from him, but…

Just like when he was little, stuck in that stark white room alone and haunted, the person next to him kept him afloat.

"I activate Linkross' ability, special summoning two Link Tokens to the field!" Playmaker said, gesturing to the field. From across the battlefield, the Ai in Spectre's body made a noise of intrigue.

"Going for a big one, Playmaker?" Ai asked, Spectre's voice sounding playful. From next to him, Playmaker could see Revolver stiffen. "I'm excited to see who you'll bring out! Is it our old pal, Firewall?"

Instead of answering, Playmaker ignored him completely. "I then summon Metal Molephosis!" Once the card had been summoned, he surveyed the field with a cautious eye. Linkross was still in the Extra Monster Zone, and it had one arrow pointing down where currently, one of his Link Tokens was sitting. Once he finished this, Linkross and Metal Molephosis would remain, and he could summon something with a little more Attack into the Extra Monster Zone for a bit of protection - depending on what kind of effect Revolver's Fusion Monster would have.

"I activate Metal Molephosis' ability! All normal monsters on my field now become Dark Dragon monsters!"

Both Ais from across the field gasped in unity. "What are you planning?" They both asked, and Playmaker continued to do his best to ignore them. Revolver, once again, almost flinched at the sound of Spectre's voice.

"I then play Polymerization!" Playmaker declared, slamming the Spell onto his duel disk. He wanted this to be over, and soon. They were both sitting at pretty even Life Points - he and Revolver at 2100 and the Ais at 1900. If things went according to plan, he might be able to end the duel this turn, despite Wind Pegasus Ignister sitting on the field.

"Polymerization?" The Ghost Girl Ai asked, looking a bit dumbfounded.

"Yes," Playmaker said, finally acknowledging his opponent no matter how much it hurt to do so. "The two forlorn anger that live in the network, surpass the root of evil and become one!"

Four pairs of eyes watched as the two Dark Dragon Tokens lit up, swirling around each other into the space above. From next to Playmaker, Revolver smirked. "Be prepared, Dark Ignis!" He said, pointing at them both. "This monster will end you!"

"Appear!" Playmaker put his hands together without thinking. "Borreload Furious Dragon!"

The light from above turned into dramatic fireworks; red and blue scattering as the massive Dark Dragon took its place. The dragon fell onto the battlefield with the grace of a seasoned veteran, making sure its presence was known.

A quick glance at its card effects told Playmaker all he needed to know. Revolver hadn't been lying - this monster would absolutely end the duel. 3000 Attack wasn't enough to take the Ai tag team out alone, but its effect would cover that.

The Spectre Ai scowled at the monster, hand not holding any cards balling up into a fist. "As soon as _Ai _leave, the two of you become best buds?" He asked, something off in his tone that Playmaker couldn't understand. Earlier, he had been commenting about how well they were working together, but now he seemed… almost _angry _about it. "I shouldn't even be surpr-_Ai_-sed."

Playmaker blinked, but ultimately ignored his partner once again. There was too much going on to allow him time to think about those sorts of things at the moment. He had given Ai the chance to talk things out - even before the kidnapping happened, all he'd wanted was Ai to come home and figure things out together.

Even now, he almost wanted to give him the chance. Not when he wasn't even really _there_, though, using the bodies of his previous allies instead.

"Thank you, Revolver," Playmaker said, before turning his full attention back to the duel. The quicker he ended this, after all, the faster he might be able to talk some sense into Ai.

* * *

Takeru sat, breathing heavily, staring at the VR set in front of him. Had days passed yet? Maybe it had only been a few hours. He wasn't sure, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Yusaku had always told him he needed to be more careful when he was in an emotional state, and Takeru was slightly regretting not listening to him now.

However long he had been in that small, white room, he hadn't eaten. He hadn't even touched the VR set yet, and it was starting to wear on him. Mostly, he'd been trying to sleep, hoping that if he slept things off long enough he would be out of there before he knew it. There was absolutely no way that Yusaku and Kusanagi weren't working on getting him out of there, and Takeru was almost positive that even Revolver would be willing to help them on this one.

When he couldn't get his body to sleep - mostly because of how hungry he was starting to get - he thought about what had happened.

Ai had really gone off the deep end. At first, Takeru had been pissed. He'd screamed his throat completely raw when he'd first woke up and found himself in that small white room. Then he'd promptly passed out, the emotional exhaustion from the past few days totaling him. Part of him had hoped it had been a bad dream, and that when he woke up, he would be somewhere comfortable and familiar with maybe even a worried text from Kiku on his phone.

It wasn't a dream, however, and Takeru knew it even then.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could go without eating, either. Dueling, at least, came naturally to him at this point; but if he continued to go without any form of nutrients he wouldn't even have the energy to _earn _said nutrients.

But he couldn't. He couldn't pick up that old, dusty looking VR set and do this to himself again. He'd already done enough when he was six years old. And the fact that it was _Ai _that had put him in there, once again, made everything all the worse.

Flame would've been so unhappy and disappointed. His Ignis would've never wanted this for him; not when he had spent so long helping him heal and recover. No matter if it would've brought him back or not, Flame would've rather Takeru continue on the path of healing then be brought back from the dead.

At least, that's what Takeru thought. He liked to think he knew his Ignis pretty well - he _was _born from him, after all, and they had always shared a special connection because of it. Just like Ai and Yusaku.

And, he supposed, just like Ai and Yusaku, that connection had been forcibly cut in some way or another, and now he was back in his own personal hell with his stomach in so much pain he could barely feel it anymore.

He would wait, though. Just for a little longer. Just in case. If he didn't have to duel to eat again, even if it meant having to take some time to recover once he got out of there, that was okay with him.

Closing his eyes, Takeru started to drift back into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Kiku wasn't sure what to do anymore.

Takeru had always been terrible at technology, but he _never _went more than a day without letting her know he was okay. She knew that his work as Soulburner could get dangerous, or that it would eat up a lot of his time, but since he'd moved to Den City he'd never missed a text. Even if it was just something like _Super tired ttyl _or something along those lines, he always made sure she - and by extension, his grandparents - knew he was hanging in there.

Truthfully, she had almost been against him moving out to Den City on his own. She knew her own parents would've never allowed her to move out with him, but it didn't feel right to let her best friend go off on his own like that. His grandfather had been happy that his grandson was starting to recover, but Kiku couldn't find it in her to agree fully.

Of course it was good that he'd started to heal. All she'd ever wanted for him was to be happy, honestly. He'd been her best friend since they were born, practically, and seeing how much he had changed from that sweet little boy to what he had become due to his trauma wore on her heart every day. When he told her he was moving to Den City because he thought there was something only he could do there, and that he was going to go to high school and graduate, Kiku had been ecstatic that he was starting to pull himself back together.

But the fact that he was going alone had always made her nervous. For the last few months, she'd convinced herself that the nerves were all in her head. Clearly, he'd found a solid routine and he was being careful and safe thanks to his new friends out there. Though she worried, she had always been supportive and happy for him.

Now, though, she couldn't stop fretting. She'd look at her phone and tablet practically every few minutes trying to see if she'd just somehow missed his message. She'd even considered making a Link VRAINS account in order to message him through his Soulburner alias, but hadn't been able to figure out why it was suddenly called _Ai Land _and had given up.

On top of all that, there was a gnawing feeling in her gut that something was terribly, horribly wrong. Kiku wasn't really superstitious, not like her parents were, but she'd always been the kind of girl to trust her instincts. Right now, her instincts were telling her that her best friend needed her help.

With a sigh, Kiku finally marched herself over to the booth in front of the train station, wallet already out from her bag. Her parents would no doubt be angry at her for months for this, but that was okay by her. Even if it just turned out that Takeru had broken his phone and forgotten her number, or something stupid like that, it would be worth her parent's wrath to see with her own eyes that he was okay.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" The woman at the booth greeted, a pleasant smile on her face as her nails tapped away at the counter.

Steeling herself, Kiku nodded. "I'd like to purchase a one way ticket to Den City, please."

* * *

Playmaker forcibly swallowed, trying not to think about who he was actively fighting against at the moment. While the idea that Ai had actually taken over his previous allies bodies for… what seemed like _amusement _made him sick, it did help that he didn't have to stare at the SOLtis body Ai had created for himself. Fighting Spectre and Ghost Girl - even if it was Ai controlling them - almost made it feel less real.

It wouldn't matter latter, when the guilt would practically eat him alive, but it was just enough to get Playmaker through the duel.

"I active Borreload Furious Dragon's effect!" He called out, pointing directly at Wind Pegasus Ignister. "Both Linkross and Wind Pegasus are destroyed!"

Both Monsters disappeared in a dazzling light, but Playmaker's eyes had long since grown used to it. Before he'd taken a look at Borreload Furious' effect, he hadn't been sure it would be enough to end the duel on his own. Now the two Ai's field was wide open, and he was ready to attack directly.

His heart hurt, but Playmaker narrowed his eyes, refusing to give in. Just like he had with Revolver, on top of the Tower of Hanoi, he would defeat Ai so he could free him. Free him from the shackles that threatened to suck them all down with him.

Without another second of hesitation, Playmaker stared straight at Spectre and Ghost Girl's bodies, once more reminding himself that Ai had to be in there somewhere. If he could be saved, if _Revolver _could be saved, then Ai could, too. "Borreload Furious Dragon attacks your Life Points directly!"

Like with the other Borreload cards, the dragon's mouth opened to reveal two barrels hiding within. In just a few moments, light gathered around it, building up until it looked like it could no longer contain anymore. It then shot the beams straight into Ai tag team, wiping their Life Points out with a bang.

It took everything Playmaker had to not fly straight over to where their bodies were, floating helplessly for a few moments. Revolver, from next to him, looked like he was having a similar struggle as his eyes stayed focused on Spectre.

"_Ai _should've known you two wouldn't be possible to beat," the Ai controlling Ghost Girl mused, as the body started turning into data. "Better luck next time, I guess."

"Ai," Playmaker said, trying to get his words out before both bodies disappeared entirely. "Tell me where you are. I don't want to fight you."

The Ai controlling Spectre snorted; and while it was a much more familiar expression on Spectre's face, there was still something quite off about it. "Roboppy knows," he said, giving a little wave as his torso started to go. "The two newbies can tell you if they manage to defeat them."

It took him a second, but Playmaker froze on his D-Board when he realized what Ai meant. He and Revolver simultaneously cursed, and Playmaker couldn't believe he hadn't realized the possibility.

"Let's go," Revolver ground out, already turning his D-Board on its heel. "_Now_."

With one last look at Ghost Girl and Spectre's fading bodies, Playmaker nodded. "Right."

The idea of having to face Roboppy, too, after facing not one but _two _Ais, was daunting. He knew, however, that he had no choice. Roboppy had managed to best both Blood Shepherd and Ghost Girl earlier, and with how advanced the Ignis algorithm was, Playmaker wasn't sure how much better Roboppy had already gotten. It wasn't safe for Jin or Miyu, no matter how decent of a duelists they were or how much experience they had.

* * *

Surveying their side of the field, Jin was beginning to realize just how screwed he and Miyu were. Thanks to Roboppy's relentless dueling, they were left with only one Monster and no set cards on the field. Miyu had managed to stop three attacks using Marincess Marbled Rock, but she was now out of cards in her hand. And with only 250 Life Points between the two of them, Marbled Rock wouldn't be enough for them to survive another attack.

Normally, he would've thought that was the end of the turn. Roboppy only had three monsters - somehow, they'd managed to stop all the attacks they sent their way, and that should've been the end of it. Roboppy, however, seemed calm for someone who was facing the end of their turn, and Jin had a bad feeling about _why_.

"Looking at you," Roboppy said, turning so they were staring at Jin directly, "you know what's next, right? Right?" The AI was getting giddier and giddier the longer this went on, shifting their weight back and forth on their D-Board without a care in the world.

Forcing a gulp, Jin nodded. "You have another trick up your sleeve," he replied, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Miyu pale considerably. Three attacks was a lot for one monster to stop, and the idea that they'd have to come up with another or face defeat was harrowing. "Isn't that right?"

Defeat, in their case, meant losing their minds. It meant losing their chances to help those who they held closest; and to Jin, it meant the possibility that more of his memories - more of his _life _\- would disappear right from under him.

Despite this, despite the way his body wanted to revolt, Jin stayed calm. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they lost. Revolver and Playmaker were both capable, and if they managed to figure out Ai's location, they could probably have this dealt with in a matter of hours.

Roboppy grinned. "Right you are! Dryer Drake's co-linked effect activates!" Jin watched with a blank expression as the Monster started to glow. "During battle, it switches places with a Link 1 Appliancer Monster in the Main Monster Zone," they explained, and Jin could hear Miyu's breathing pick up the pace. "And _that _allows the Monster that switched places to attack twice! How about that!"

"Shit," Miyu cursed from next to Jin. He couldn't help but return the sentiment.

Thanks to the Octopus Charge effect, that would bring Laundry Dragon's Attack up to 3500; well over what was needed to take out Marbled Rock and wipe out the rest of their Life Points.

The idea that somehow, this was where their story ended seemed almost absurd to him. The fact that he was risking losing even _more _of his memories - what made him _himself_, what made him feel like a person - made him want to break down and scream. Though he wasn't particularly panicked, all things considered, his body had set patterns it wanted to follow despite his input.

He didn't _want _to panic. Even at the expense of losing more of his thoughts, more of his experiences, Jin wanted to remain calm. There maybe was another way out of this - one they just hadn't thought of yet. If he stayed calm, maybe he could figure it out. Cyberse cards were incredibly powerful in the Graveyard in many cases. There was the potential to use something from either one of theirs.

"Roboppy."

All three of them turned to where the voice came out of nowhere, and a different kind of panic began setting into Jin's bones.

Playmaker and Revolver were there, and neither of them looked happy. Revolver, especially, was glaring at him and Miyu; not even paying any mind to what was once more or less a housekeeper robot. Playmaker, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. His entire being was focused solely on what used to be his helper.

The AI sheepishly grinned, looking out over the field. They hadn't called their attack yet, and before Miyu or Jin could say anything, the entire field disappeared in front of them. "That's my cue to leave!" Roboppy said, laughing a little to themselves. "I'll have to beat you another time. Sorry!"

"Roboppy!" Playmaker called out, but they were already speeding off, without bothering to say a proper goodbye, or indulge their previous owner with any words.

Watching curiously, Jin decided to put away the face that Playmaker made at his old cleaning robot to dissect for another time. With the way Revolver was still glaring at both him and Miyu, he had a feeling he was kind of in for it. The calmness he'd been forcing himself to have was starting to feel more genuine, and he took a deep breath on instinct. Normally, this would've helped slow his heart rate, but since they were in Link VRAINS, it was more or less pointless.

Back when he had been held captive by Lightning, he'd had the same problem. It was almost frustrating that he wasn't used to how Link VRAINS differed from the real world, but he supposed instinct was instinct.

Revolver, Jin noticed, waited until Playmaker had turned to face them before starting in on them. "We need to find a place to land. _Now_." His tone was the most serious he'd heard thus far, and it left no room for argument.

From beside him, Miyu looked away, and Jin wanted to sigh. "I saw a place not too far back that way," he said instead, pointing to where he believed he'd seen a decent sized platform. "You two might've passed it on your way here. Does that work?"

Nodding, Revolver was already heading in that direction. "Let's go," he said, and Playmaker shook his head, following after quickly.

He began to follow suit as well, when he realized Miyu hadn't started moving again yet. "You coming?" Jin asked her, giving her a quick once over. She was still pale, but her breathing had slowed down to what was a normal rate. He considered mentioning to her that she didn't actually need to be breathing, but he figured that it wasn't a good time for that at the moment.

After what felt like an hour, Miyu nodded, slowly trying to maneuver herself into proper flight from the hovering position they'd been in. Jin shrugged, finally going to where he remembered the platform to be.

* * *

"Log out," Revolver hissed out, his D-Board disappearing behind him. "Log out _now_."

Jin took a step back, but Miyu held her ground, glaring at him. "But we nearly defeated them!" She protested, her arms crossed firmly across her chest. "We can keep going, Aoi-"

"Will be in more danger if you go back into a coma," Revolver cut her off, words sounding angrier than Playmaker had ever heard them. "What use would you be to her if you were incapacitated, because your body couldn't handle the strain of dueling for so long in VRAINS?"

From in front of him, Miyu's expression softened. When she opened her mouth again, Jin stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "They're not going to hate us for not coming soon enough," he said, and Playmaker could see his own internal fight reflected in Miyu's eyes. "We'll be more effective if we wait another day."

"How can you even say that!" She exclaimed, stomping one of her feet like a child. Her words lacked all the bite they had previously, however, and now it almost looked like she was about to cry. "Your _brother _is in there, too! I know you can't remember, but that's doesn't mean-"

"_Enough_." Playmaker's voice cut through like a knife. As much as Miyu's words tore through him - two of the only people he'd ever considered friends were going through literal hell, one for a _second time _\- he knew where Revolver was coming from. The entire reason they had asked Jin and Miyu for help was because the two of them wouldn't be able to handle this on their own. If both of their bodies went down, so early on… "We log out, and we regroup. We're no use to any of them if we're all dead by the morning."

Biting back her tears, Miyu reluctantly nodded. "Fine," she eventually said, activating the log out function without another word.

Jin soon followed, leaving only Playmaker and Revolver. It was a rare moment of peace and quiet for the two of them, and despite the heated conversation just moments before, Playmaker felt some of the tension leave his body.

It had been a long day. Slowly, Playmaker turned to face Revolver, who was looking at the sky.

Whatever Ai had done to Link VRAINS, the one thing he could say was that the colors looked more lifelike. Maybe it was a product of Ai missing being in the real world, even just a little, but the blues and greens reminded him of the sunny days he and Kusanagi used to park the truck over by Stardust Road, while they were still looking for information on the Lost Incident. That felt like a lifetime ago. Things had changed so much since the early days - besides just the addition of new allies.

Playmaker had his entire world view flipped on its head a number of times, and had seen allies become enemies and vice versa. He'd tried his best to keep an open mind and to take things as they came, but it was getting harder and harder with each new discovery. In all honesty, he was surprised Ai hadn't been his breaking point.

"I don't like this," he said out loud, startling Revolver a bit. "With Roboppy off somewhere, we could just keep searching." It would make them hypocrites, but Playmaker didn't care anymore. He didn't want anyone else to face Ai. He didn't _trust _anyone else to face Ai.

Revolver snorted. "Be my guest," he said, gesturing at the vast, empty VR space that surrounded them. "I wouldn't recommend going in on your own, but I've seen you fight your way out of worse."

That was arguable. Playmaker had fought his way through many things, many times, but he'd never had to face _Ai. _Not really. Ai using Ghost Girl and Spectre was hard enough, but actually facing his partner, the Ignis born from his own thoughts and feelings…

He sighed deeply, feeling his will to finish this then and there deflate completely. Anytime he put too much thought into who his opponent would be, the fight drained out of him. "We should get going," he said after a moment, holding up his duel disk.

Revolver raised an eyebrow, but shook his head quickly. "Alright," he agreed, and Playmaker was grateful that he chose not to comment on his quick change of him.

Without another word, Revolver logged himself out, Playmaker soon to follow. He didn't want to sit there alone any longer than necessary.

* * *

"Don't say a word," Ryoken said, his voice hard as soon as he materialized into the room. Miyu and Jin both shrank back a little, even if Miyu still glared at him.

The room was tense, and even Pandor, who had already been waiting in the room for the rest of the entourage to come back, could feel it. The AI didn't say a word, though, just watched as she waited for someone to pounce.

Unsurprisingly, it was Miyu who snapped first. "Don't tell me what to do," she snarled, shaking off whatever fear she may have felt from Ryoken's previous tone. "I don't work for you. You are not my _boss_, or whatever it is that you do." Crossing her arms, she wheeled over to him, practically pushing herself out of her chair to be at the same level as him. "I'm working _with _you because it's the right thing to do, because it'll help save Aoi and everyone else. I'm not here to get treated like a soldier."

"We're not trying to," Yusaku said, stepping in between them to the best of his ability. It was ironic, he knew, that he was once again having to play peacemaker after he'd spent so long as practically a vigilante. "Strong as you may be, Roboppy almost had you. Then what use would you be to Aoi?"

The girl froze. The tension in the room wasn't broken, but the setting had changed - no longer was it anger, but it was a sense of almost hopelessness that filled the room. Slowly, her hands came down from her chest, and she seemed to curl in on herself slightly. Her bright eyes, which had been staring defiantly at whoever was getting in her way, had softened completely.

Sighing, Yusaku shook his head, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Miyu," he said, lowering his voice. "_I get it_. But dying trying doesn't mean anything and it doesn't save anyone."

Tears pricked her eyes, but Miyu refused to bring a hand up to catch them. From behind her, Jin watched her shake, feeling something swirling in his stomach that he couldn't place. Even Ryoken, who had started off still just as pissed as he'd been in Link VRAINS, seemed to frown and stand down.

"I know," she agreed after a moment, searching for something in Yusaku's eyes. "I know. I can't help it." She laughed a little, the sound watery. "The idea of Aoi going through what we went through…"

Ryoken's eyes hardened at her words. With almost nobody noticing, he stalked out, shoulders rigid as he walked. Pandor, however, saw, and followed him out silently. The room was far too tense for her, anyways, and it was beginning to almost _hurt._

Yusaku retracted his hand, nodding at her. "I know," he parroted. "But if Ryoken hadn't been smart about how he saved us, we may have never made it out. A few extra days is better than forever."

Miyu's eyes drifted to where she thought Ryoken was standing, only to be met with empty space. Sighing to herself, she nodded back, moving back to where the couch was. "Yeah," she said. "It's hard to be rational, though."

Even Jin could understand that. He sat down next to where she'd parked herself, not really sure why. He didn't say anything, just looked down at his lap, contemplating everything that had happened throughout the day. It was a lot to take in.

Now that Miyu had been seemingly pacified, she too started to relax; allowing herself to think and try her best to remember the plays she had made. Maybe she wouldn't have been able to fend off that last, finishing attack, but she knew she'd helped get them through the rest of the duel - it was just a matter of how.

If she wanted to improve as a duelist, and be of any use to the others, Miyu knew she had to remember. Improvement came based on what someone already knew, after all, and if Miyu didn't even _know _what she knew…

She almost laughed to herself. Her mood, however, soured once more as her gaze found Jin's.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand him. Not only did he barely even flinch at the idea of heading back when they were close to finding his own _brother_, but he didn't even seem phased by the fact that the older Kusanagi was going through hell. She knew that he didn't remember what it was like, but in her opinion, it shouldn't matter at all.

At the moment, though, Miyu was too exhausted to confront him about it. Maybe she'd have the energy later, when they inevitably were stuck in the same car with Pandor again.

* * *

"Ryoken." The man in question turned, facing Yusaku with a solemn expression. Yusaku felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest, and he frowned - both at it, and Ryoken's face. "What happened ten years ago wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself."

It hadn't taken him long to figure out why Ryoken had left during his conversation with Miyu. Despite the fact that they still weren't _friends _in the traditional sense, Yusaku had always been able to read him like a book. By the way Ryoken stiffened at his words, he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. Their conversation from earlier also came to mind, but Yusaku wasn't sure now was a good time to continue it.

He couldn't just keep his mouth shut, though. Ryoken was hurting, and trying to repent for atrocities he hadn't committed. Yusaku wouldn't let him.

"I don't want to talk about this, right now," Ryoken said after a long moment, turning back away from him. "I will have Pandor take the other two back. We will meet again tomorrow."

"_Wait_." Yusaku stressed the word, nearly reaching out and grabbing Ryoken's wrist. "Let me stay." When Ryoken turned around once again, likely to refuse, Yusaku continued. "We don't have to talk about that," he amended. Much as he wanted to, the idea of leaving Ryoken alone at that moment was worse in his mind. "Just…"

The older boy sighed heavily, leaning against the door frame to a room Yusaku hadn't yet seen. "Fine," Ryoken agreed with obvious reluctance. "I'll order something for dinner after I send them home."

Blinking, Yusaku wasn't sure what to say to that. It had been his idea, his push, to stay longer and possibly try and convince Ryoken that he didn't need to hold onto all that guilt, but now that he'd agreed, he had no idea how to respond. All the stress from the day seem to seep out of him all at once, as if the mere idea of being in his special person's presence for longer than normal was enough to fix everything.

It was ridiculous, but Yusaku would think on it later. He'd take what he could get. "Okay," he replied after a moment, rolling his shoulders a bit. "That's fine."

He almost felt guilty, thinking of Ai and everyone trapped where they were, while he was able to sit back in Ryoken's million dollar home. It wasn't really the case - just like he'd told Miyu, better they wait a few days instead of their rescuers ending up dead - but it didn't feel good.

It wasn't enough to stop his body from getting comfortable, though.

* * *

By the time they had gotten into the car and had started driving back to the hospital, Miyu had made her decision. Though it probably wasn't in the best taste, considering the events of the day and the fact that they had been working together throughout most of it, she couldn't help it. The more she stared at him in Ryoken's house, the more anger built up in her.

The idea that she was working with people who cared, but understood how to pace themselves? Irritating, but understandable. Much as she had grown aggravated with Ryoken's attitude that day, she _got it_. He had been looking out for her best interest. It didn't give him a right to talk down to her the way he did, but he was on her side. He wanted to find Aoi and everyone else and get them home safely, too.

The idea that she was working with someone who was _directly related _to one of the victims but didn't seem to be bothered by anything? A completely different story.

"Do you even care?" Miyu asked aloud, not bothering to hold back any punches. From the driver's seat, Pandor stayed silent, much like last time; though Jin almost wished she would speak up. "Do you even care about what your brother is going through right now?"

It was hard for Jin not to wince. "I don't remember it like you do," he said, trying to explain himself. Of course he _cared_. He'd always loved his brother - growing up, he'd looked up to him more than anything. More than life itself, practically. "I'm trying to understand, but I don't, and I don't want to mess up and make things take longer."

It was sound reasoning, he thought, but he could see that Miyu didn't agree. Her lips were curled back into a snarl, and despite the situation, he couldn't stop the fleeting thought that she looked _nice _that way.

"Why does it matter if you don't remember it happening to you?" She demanded, inching closer to him to the best of her ability. "Where in the world does it say that you need to be able to _relate _to feel something?"

Jin blinked. "Isn't that how you're supposed to interact?" The question clearly frustrated Miyu even more, and she sunk her head into her hands. In all honesty, though, Jin didn't _get it_.

For ten years of his life, he'd been practically dead to the living world. He couldn't live on his own, he couldn't think most of the time, and when he could he _screamed_. He remembered all the feelings the nightmares brought, and his _body _clearly remembered whatever it was that had hurt him so badly. So many patterns still remained in place - the fact that he had panic attacks for seemingly no reason was proof enough of that - but he didn't _understand._

"Forget it," Miyu finally said, turning away from him to face the window. "Just… forget it."

"Okay," he agreed, but he knew this wouldn't be the last time they'd talk about this.

And for whatever reason, he almost looked forward to it.

* * *

**Notes**

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I feel like I bring more angst in some form with every update, lmao, I'm so sorry. That said, I do have a full chapter count finally - this fic will end on **Chapter 10**! So we're almost halfway there :) I imagine it'll end up being about 80k words or so, but we'll see. See you next time!


	5. cynet refresh

**Notes**

Well, oops! Just so you all know, I've had this chapter sitting at around 5.5k for like, three weeks now;; Between my crazy work schedule, the holidays, and Star Wars TROS I've been too busy and too tired to write much, unfortunately. That said, it's here now, and I still plan to complete this fic by the end of February! I apologize for the length of this chapter, but I figured it was better to get it out sooner rather than later with a little less words :(

All that aside, I hope you enjoy. I really love this fic, so even if it takes me awhile to update, I won't stop until it's complete!

* * *

"What do you usually eat?"

Yusaku blinked at the question. It had been about an hour since Ryoken had sent Pandor to take Jin and Miyu back to the hospital, and the AI hadn't shown back up yet. Ryoken didn't seem particularly concerned about that, so he tried not to think much about it either, but for whatever reason he had expected the older boy to wait until discussing dinner plans.

Which, Yusaku realized, was a stupid assumption. Pandor was an AI. She might've had free will, even if it was limited, but she did not possess a human body nor the need to eat.

Shrugging, he forced himself back into the present. It was getting harder and harder for him to stay in the moment. "Whatever's cheap," Yusaku answered honestly. "I'm not a picky eater." Ever since the Lost Incident, anyways, he just ate whatever was in front of him. Food was food, and he knew what it was like to go hungry a bit too well.

Ryoken sighed, letting himself lean against the wall. Despite the fact that they were in what Ryoken considered the _smaller _meeting room, it was still larger than anything Yusaku had ever lived in. Though Yusaku was only in the middle of the room, he felt like Ryoken was miles from where he sat on the couch.

"Would you rather go out to eat?" Ryoken asked, looking like he was trying to stay put in his own skin. Despite the fact that Yusaku had asked to stay, he was slowly realizing that it might have been a bad idea. "Whatever you prefer."

The amount of times Yusaku had imagined similar scenarios between himself and the older boy certainly wasn't helping him now. The more time he spent in Ryoken's Stardust Road home, the more Yusaku understood the chasm that had built in between them.

It was so odd, considering how easily they were able to work together when they had a similar goal in mind. There was nobody, still to this day, that Yusaku trusted more than the boy in front of him. There was nobody that he felt understood him better - even Takeru, who had also been a victim of the incident that tore his childhood out from under him, felt farther away from his state of mind most days. Though they had not spoken in ten years, and though they had only recently began to cooperate with each other, Yusaku _still _felt that Ryoken was the only person he could connect with like that.

So badly, he wanted to cross that distance. Just like Ryoken had when they were children, Yusaku didn't want to let him sink into the abyss.

"Let's go out," Yusaku said suddenly, standing up from his place on the couch. "You can pick where." It was a long shot, really; the idea that somehow a change of scenery might allow both boys to open up a little more. But it was worth a shot, if nothing at all.

They couldn't keep walking that line forever. Eventually, something would have to give.

"Alright," Ryoken agreed, pushing off the wall. "I have a place in mind."

* * *

The nurse shuffled awkwardly at the door, and Miyu frowned. There was only one reason she would be making that face, and she wasn't particularly happy about it.

"Your mother is on her way," the nurse said, confirming her suspicions. "I thought I should let you know."

Honestly, Miyu was surprised that her mother hadn't been outright banned after the fight they had the last time she had shown up. It was probably against the law since she _was _Miyu's mother, and she was still under twenty, but the point remained. Her mother _had _been kicked out last time, with a stern talking to from the head doctor on the floor.

Miyu had cried for a week, afterwards.

"Thank you," Miyu finally replied, balling her fists up into the blankets on her lap. The nurse turned around and left swiftly after hearing her answer, but Miyu didn't bother watching.

Right before the Lost Incident, Miyu had lost Aoi. Her mother had pulled her away from her, no matter how much she kicked and screamed, and refused to let her see the other girl ever again. And then, of course, she had been kidnapped.

It wasn't clear how much of the story her own mother was told. Truthfully, Miyu didn't know. She never once talked to her mother about the Lost Incident or what had happened to her during those six months. Even at such a young age, she had decided that her mother was not on her side. Taking her away from her best and only friend had solidified that in her mind.

After the Lost Incident, the overbearing side to her mother just got worse and worse, prompting her to rebel to the best of her ability: she joined the swimming club instead of volleyball. In secret, she played Duel Monsters, and refused to abide by her mother's strict curfew. She would purposefully bomb tests if her mother pestered her about them despite her perfect attendance record.

Those little things just drove her and her mother further and further apart, until Miyu barely even knew the woman who called herself that.

To the people at her school, it seemed stupid, and almost petty. But they didn't know, and Miyu didn't care. All of the _friends _that she had weren't real friends. They weren't _Aoi_, who had loved her unconditionally and even at six years old been the most genuine person Miyu had ever met. None of the girls that she spoke to on the regular would've lied like that for her. Especially not to her mother's face.

And it wasn't like her mother got her, anyways. After the Lost Incident, Miyu hadn't needed to be held captive. She had needed to be allowed to _grow_. To prove to herself the outside world wasn't scary, and that if she could conquer her own kidnapping, she could conquer anything. Being trapped in school, in a house, it didn't matter. It all felt the same to her. It all felt like those four white walls closing in on her continuously, making sure she knew the only way out was to fight.

But all her mother wanted to do was to make her a perfect wife. A perfect woman to hand off to some rich friend of her late father to use as some stupid political gain. Somewhere, deep down, Miyu knew her mother _did _care about her. She showed it, sometimes, like the fact that she still went to all of her daughter's swim meets despite hating the idea of her joining that club instead of what she had asked.

It was too little, too late, though. When she had woken up from her coma to the knowledge that somehow, Aoi had been the one to save her, she had called her mother in after she'd met up with Aoi and told her that she still hadn't forgiven her from ripping her away from her best friend like that. Told her mother everything - about how Aoi had lied because she hadn't wanted Miyu to get in trouble, and how in the Lost Incident, it wasn't her own flesh and blood that had gotten her through; but rather a friend she had been told to never see again.

"Miyu," a cold voice greeted, forcing Miyu out of her thoughts. In an instant, her eyes were narrowed. "I hope you're feeling more reasonable than last time."

Scowling, Miyu forced herself to sit up more despite how much she ached. Ryoken hadn't been lying when he had said that going into Link VRAINS really did wear down on the physical body. "If that's how you're going to start this, you should just leave," she spat back, pointing a sore arm towards the doorway her mother still stood in.

For a long moment, Miyu really did think her mother would walk right out on her. If she did, that would be fine. However, her mother heaved a sigh, and clearly tried to relax her posture a bit. "I know the Zaizen girl was here again," she finally said, looking everywhere in the hospital room besides her own daughter. "I didn't realize her caretaker had grown into-"

Miyu saw red, knowing exactly where her mother was going with that.

"How dare you!" Miyu's voice practically shook the room, and with what little strength she had, she forced herself onto her feet. She'd been skipping physical therapy thanks to the situation in Link VRAINS, but it didn't matter in that moment. Adrenaline and sheer anger pulsed through her veins, making her ignore the dull and sharp aches from her movement. "How dare you even _try _to say that now that her brother is _usable_, you suddenly don't mind us being friends again! Is that all you think about!" Blinking back tears, she took an unstable step forward. "And _look at me _when I'm talking to you!"

Her mother, however, stood her ground, bringing her back up stiffly once again. Still, though, she did not meet her daughter's eyes. "I only want what's best for you. That is all I've ever wanted. The girl was no good back then, but clearly, she's changed-"

Without thinking, Miyu screamed. Even without all the stress of her best friend being kidnapped and forcibly put back into the single worst experience of her entire life, Miyu didn't think she'd be able to handle this conversation. Her mother flinched at the sound of it, and she knew she wouldn't see her again for at least another month after this - until most of the other residents had left, so her mother wouldn't have to feel the burning embarrassment.

"Shut _up_." Her voice was loud enough to cover up the pounding footsteps of nurses coming to stop them once again. "Shut up! You don't get to say that! You don't get to act like you _care_."

For the first time that day, her mother looked her in the eyes. Whatever emotion was there, Miyu couldn't place, though she didn't exactly care to try at the moment. "Of course I care about you, Miyu. I'm your _mother_."

Scowling, Miyu watched as the doctors opened the door and shot a pointed look at her mother. "All you've ever cared about is that title," she said, mostly to herself. By the time the words came out, her mother was already being escorted out of the hospital room.

Maybe she was lucky, in a sense, for the _connections _her friendship with Aoi landed her. Without Akira's input, the doctors likely would've never escorted out her mother no matter the way they screamed at each other, instead leaving them to their own devices and giving them dirty looks afterwards.

Miyu knew, though, that she would've rather fought with her mother every single day for the rest of her life if it meant she could have a normal friendship with Aoi. If it meant that over the last ten years, they could've been growing up together, like they were supposed to.

In a moment, she collapsed to the ground; her body unable to continue supporting her any longer. The nurses rushed over to help her back into bed, and she let them without a fight even as they scolded her.

"Aoi," she whispered to herself, "I'm sorry."

* * *

For a long time, now, Yusaku had assumed Ryoken came by Cafe Nagi and tolerated the food there because of his identity as Playmaker. Someone with as much money as he had, Yusaku felt, probably had a much more refined palate than he did - someone with no money and no time or care to learn how to cook properly.

As it turns out, Yusaku was very wrong.

He stared at the burger he'd grabbed with a frown on his face, trying to process everything. The last few days had been harder on him than he'd been expecting, and while thinking about Ryoken's food choices was a decent distraction, if he let his mind wander for too long he'd come crashing down.

"Are you going to eat your food or just stare at it?" Ryoken asked, catching the other boy off guard.

In response, Yusaku took a bite of his food, forcing it down his throat. He hadn't been hungry since Ai had left. What he _did _manage to eat didn't exactly taste like much, either. It was like his whole body was revolting against the situation.

Back when he was little, trapped in the nightmare that was the Lost Incident, it had been similar. The food was terribly bland, and it wasn't like he got much of it anyways, but after a day or two he'd completely stopped being able to taste anything. He ate when it was in front of him to survive but there wasn't much thought put into it at all.

And besides all of this, he felt _guilty_. He'd been feeling it every moment that wasn't spent in Link VRAINS searching and dueling. It was eating him alive, even when his body begged him to let it go for just a few minutes to recover.

However, Yusaku had promised Ryoken that he wouldn't talk about it. That was the condition for being allowed to stay, though truthfully, Yusaku didn't think the older boy minded as much as he originally would've thought. Ryoken almost seemed to be able to let down his guard with Yusaku there, and that was something he thought he'd never get to see.

Ryoken's voice broke the silence once more. "Have you been going to school?" He asked, watching Yusaku carefully. Whatever the younger boy had expected to come out of his mouth, it certainly wasn't that.

"Of course not," Yusaku replied after taking another slow bite of his burger. "I don't have time."

"I've been purposefully scheduling these meetings for the evening, you know," Ryoken said, setting down his food. Yusaku's mind went completely blank - he nearly wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Go to school."

Blinking, Yusaku put his own burger onto the plate, meeting Ryoken's pointed stare with an ease he didn't know he had. "No," he said, though the inflection made it come out as almost like a question. He still wasn't really sure this conversation was actually happening. "School doesn't matter. Saving everyone - saving _Ai _does."

It was odd to see the older boy so agitated by that. School had never really mattered to Yusaku, not even before he became Playmaker. From a young age, he'd realized that he would never fit in the way his therapy sessions had tried to make him. He wasn't going to be a normal student, a normal kid who wanted to get good grades and go to a university.

When he'd begun to learn how to program, he started making his own money and learned quickly how to budget himself and how to survive. He didn't _need _to get a degree to be good at what he did. And right now, it was the furthest thing on his mind.

They were all still captive. Takeru, Shoichi, Aoi… and even Ai, in a way, was a captive to his own mind. Saving them all, making sure they were okay, _that _was the thing that mattered to him most. Once everyone was back home and recovering, then he could think about school. Then he could go do a few makeup tests that he'd pass without issue and things could move from there.

Wanting to change the subject, Yusaku spoke up again, not even caring that it technically broke their prior agreement. "What are _your _thoughts on Windy?"

It was partially a way to stop talking about school, of all things, and also partially because it had not stopped bothering Yusaku since this whole mess had started. Everyone else made sense - even Aoi being used in place of Miyu made sense, since she had actively been Aqua's partner and had helped create her through Miyu's memories. He trusted Ryoken, and if he said that he had no leads, Yusaku believed him.

Even still, he wanted to know what Ryoken himself thought. Not just the data. Besides the fact that Yusaku trusted him so implicitly, he was incredibly resourceful and knew how to put two and two together. If there was anything that seemed off about any of the other victims, or any connections, he would find it.

Ryoken's lips pressed themselves into a thin line, and he narrowed his eyes to let Yusaku know that their previous conversation was far from over. "My own thoughts?" He asked, indulging the topic change. "Why does that matter?"

"Your thoughts always matter to me," Yusaku said without thinking. "You've probably thought about it, right?"

_This _was something he could talk about without feeling terribly guilty. It was productive, and it allowed him to focus on the problem at hand without it being detrimental in any way. It also helped distract from the growing bustle in the fast food place that they were still in; though they were fairly far from the counter and door. Unfortunately it wasn't a terribly large building, but the conversation would at least keep Yusaku's mind occupied enough so the claustrophobia wouldn't grow on him.

With a sigh, Ryoken nodded, taking another bite out of his food. "I have," he said after he finished chewing. "This speculation stays between us." With a pounding heart, Yusaku nodded, allowing Ryoken to continue. "It appears that Blood Shepherd was at the intersection where the accident took place," Ryoken said grimly. "It was the same accident that caused his mother to end up in the hospital."

Despite how awful that revelation was, somehow, Yusaku wasn't surprised. "So you think Ai is using Blood Shepherd," he finished the thought, feeling his throat go dry. Slowly, he reached to grab the soft drink he'd gotten with his food.

It made enough sense as anything else. With no other kidnappings,Windy's origin dead, and with him no family that had ever been involved in these matters, it seemed as likely of an option as anything else.

"I do," Ryoken said, crumpling the wrapper of his finished burger in one hand. "I want you to go to school tomorrow."

Yusaku's distraction hadn't lasted nearly long enough. Unlike Ryoken, he still had half a burger left to go and with the topic back to something as ridiculous as _school_, he wasn't sure how well he would manage.

"Why?" It was such a ridiculous request, given the circumstances.

Ryoken shifted in a way that made Yusaku think he wasn't quite comfortable answering. From the look on his face, it seemed like there was a million things running through his mind at that question.

After what felt like hours, he finally arrived on one. "It's important that you get a proper education," Ryoken decided on, "and finish your food. You need to eat."

When he spoke like that, Yusaku could almost believe that he cared more deeply than he would've liked to admit. It was something that his tired mind clung onto, and he nodded despite himself, forcing another bite of his food. He was getting tired of saying no to Ryoken's requests, no matter how out of place or peculiar they might be.

School, however, he would not budge on. "No," Yusaku said. "Going to school right now is pointless, I told you."

Part of him knew it was even more pointless to argue with him, though. He'd never liked fighting with Ryoken, and he almost wanted to lie and say yes just to avoid it. Lying would just make his guilt grow more, however, and he hated the idea of lying to him more than he hated the idea of fighting with him.

Ryoken's eyes narrowed sharply. "I will drive you tomorrow morning myself, if that will make you go."

"Why are you so fixated on this?" Yusaku asked, sitting himself up a little straighter to be more on Ryoken's level. "I have other things to focus on right now."

The face Ryoken was making reminded Yusaku so much of the first night he'd seen him face to face after the Lost Incident, it almost hurt to look at. Whatever reasons he had for wanting Yusaku to go to school, he knew he couldn't keep saying no when it obviously mattered so much to him.

For a moment, Yusaku wondered if Ryoken was going to say please. "It doesn't matter," he said instead, waving off the question. "I will kick you off of this operation, if I have to."

They both knew that Yusaku would go in by himself, if that were the case, but Yusaku felt his resolve wavering the longer he stared at Ryoken's guilt-stricken eyes. "Fine," he eventually caved, slumping down in his seat just a fraction. "_Fine_."

The small _thank you _Yusaku got to hear from Ryoken made it almost worth it. Almost.

* * *

For years of his life, Shoichi had tried his hardest to put himself into Jin and Yusaku's shoes. He couldn't understand exactly what they had went through during the Lost Incident, only how much it had effected them afterwards. Hearing straight from Yusaku what they had been through, seeing how it effected Jin so horribly… he thought he had a decent idea. Never would he ever claim to understand - he wasn't Akira Zaizen, and he wasn't that callous, either - but he thought he could at least empathize.

Now, he knew better.

He couldn't keep track of time in that room. He had no idea how many hours or days had passed since he'd given himself up for Jin's sake, but still, Shoichi didn't regret it. Every second that ticked by with him in that white room was another he had saved Jin from, in his mind. Knowing now, though, the terrors his brother, Yusaku, and the rest of the victims had went through for _six months_…

Shoichi shook his head, taking a deep breath as he pushed himself up of the floor. The electric shock that had forced his body to give out still reverberating through his bones. Imagining having this happen over and over and _over _again when he was as young as Jin and Yusaku and Takeru had been was nearly enough to make him sob. Here he was, a grown man in his twenties, shaking as he stood up to duel again to _eat_.

Another deep breath, and Shoichi was upright once more. Throughout the last ten years, he had done his best to be understanding and sensitive to what the kids had gone through. He never pushed Yusaku to talk or to stop in his mission, back when Playmaker truly was the emissary of revenge, and he tried his hardest to be patient with Jin.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he'd always thought it was understandable that he got frustrated sometimes, however. Nobody was perfect, he certainly wasn't, but he did feel guilty for some of his thoughts. When Shoichi had first met Yusaku, he had wished that Jin had been more like him - stronger, more willing to tackle his fears and face them head on, instead of being completely and totally comatose.

Not too long ago, he'd found out from Yusaku that Jin had been tortured _on top _of the Lost Incident, thanks to the cruel nature of his Ignis, and that had slid things into perspective a bit better. The guilt that gnawed at him for not protecting his brother, twice, and also for wishing he could just _get better _sometimes had come out in full force over the last few months because of it. When Ai - _Ai, _of all people - had told him he would be an acceptable stand in for his brother, Shoichi knew that he had to take that chance.

And now, now that he had been in that small white room for god knows how long, he wept openly. Partially due to the pain his body was in after yet _another _electrocution, and partially because now he _got it_. Not exactly, of course, he'd never fully understand what it was like to live through this at six years old, but it was something. It was a better understanding than before, at least.

One more deep breath, and Shoichi steeled himself to try dueling again. It hurt. His stomach was completely and totally empty at that point, and his throat had gone bone dry awhile back. If he didn't win a duel soon, he didn't know what would happen to his body.

_For Jin, _he reminded himself. _For Jin, and Yusaku, and Takeru, and everyone else. _If he gave up now, would Ai go after Jin as a replacement? He didn't know, and he most definitely wasn't willing to take that chance.

Starting up another VR duel, he knew he was completely out of options. He had to win.

* * *

Almost immediately, Yusaku regretted allowing Ryoken to talk him into this.

There was no way he could've said _no_, and he knew that, but he was still irritated that the older boy had asked at all. Just like dinner before had felt awful, going to school with everything going on felt just as bad. If not _worse_.

It was a painful reminder that time ticked on without everyone there. Since Takeru had shown up in Den City, he had gone to school with the other boy nearly every time Yusaku had bothered to show up. Being at the school knowing that he was reliving the same hell that had tormented them both for a _decade _was one of the worst feelings Yusaku had ever experienced. Not seeing Aoi Zaizen, whose presence he had long since gotten used to, made him sick to his stomach on top of everything else.

Every second not in Link VRAINS fighting his way through was a second wasted, but Yusaku knew it wasn't that simple. Fighting meant having to fight Ai, and losing anyone meant losing their chances at getting through his clones and Roboppy; thus losing their chances at actually saving them. The entire situation was a mess, and being at school was just making him wish he was asleep.

Even if he couldn't reasonably be fighting at the moment, he could at least be doing something useful - fixing up his deck, looking into Ai's Link VRAINS coding, _anything _other than wasting six hours at a building that taught him absolutely nothing of importance.

But Ryoken had insisted.

Glaring as he walked, Yusaku reasoned that at the very least, he could probably sleep his way through class as he usually did. That was at least something potentially helpful. Sleep _was _needed, no matter how much he hated doing it, and at least he generally didn't have an issue with sleeping through classes. His teachers showed him some mercy, for reasons he didn't understand, but was grateful for them nonetheless.

Finally, he entered the school building, completely ignoring Naoki's shrieking and questioning. Normally he'd at least humor the boy, but he wasn't in the mood. Looking at Aoi's empty seat as he sat down hurt, and those feelings were all Yusaku could focus on at the moment.

By the end of the day, he reminded himself, he'd be back at Stardust Road with their makeshift team, logging into Link VRAINS to see how far they could get. He knew the plan was to get the location tonight, and then tomorrow, go in for the kill.

Thinking about that hurt, too, but Yusaku did he best to put that in the back of his mind. One thing at a time, he reminded himself.

* * *

"Are you Yusaku Fujiki?" Kiku asked, staring up at who she hoped was Takeru's friend.

Everything in Den City was too busy. Compared to the small town she'd lived in her whole life, Den City was like another universe. The hustle and bustle was a lot to take in, and that was not even including trying to figure out how to navigate the extensive underground train system and various districts.

Den City High was at least easy to find, once she'd gotten to the right area. She'd never seen a picture of the boy Takeru called his closest friend out there, but he'd described him enough times that Kiku was nearly certain she'd gotten it right.

The boy in question didn't respond for a moment, just raised an eyebrow as he looked her over carefully. Kiku stood her ground, however, and put her hands on her hips. "Well?" She asked, when the boy still didn't say anything. "Are you or not?"

"Who are you?" The boy asked instead of answering, and Kiku frowned.

_Well, _she supposed, she probably wouldn't want to disclose her name to some random stranger asking her, either. She sighed, trying to ease her nerves a little. "I'm Kiku Kamishirakawa," she said, trying to give him a smile. "I'm Takeru's best friend."

_That _got a reaction from the boy. For a split second, his neutral face shifted into something painful, before forcibly going back into its default. Before he could even say anything, Kiku continued.

"You know what's happened to him, don't you?" She asked, inching closer. "He hasn't contacted me in days. I'm really worried."

The boy, who Kiku was now sure was Yusaku Fujiki, grunted. "I'm working on it," he said, and Kiku frowned once again at how vague that was. "Sorry he made you worry. I'll make sure he apologizes."

Without another word, or waiting for her to respond, the boy started to walk off. _Absolutely _not_, _Kiku thought, scowling as she placed herself in front of him once again. "No," she said, shaking her head. "_No_. You can't just leave! He's my best friend, and I haven't heard from him in _days_!" She knew she was practically shouting, but couldn't bring herself to tone it down. "If you know something, you can't just keep it to yourself. _Please_."

Against all odds, Yusaku paused in his steps. "How much do you know?" He asked her carefully, dropping his voice so low that Kiku could barely hear him.

It took her a moment to figure out what he was asking. "I know he's Soulburner," she confessed quietly, looking down at her shoes. "I know what he's told me about when he was kidnapped. Not much more than that."

It hurt to think about. When she was younger, she hadn't understood why her best friend had changed so drastically - hadn't understood why he disappeared for half a year, only to come back a completely different person. It had taken her years afterwards to get his walls to come back down enough to tell her, and when she had finally found out, she had been devastated for weeks.

Imagining the kind of hell that he had gone through, for those six months, honestly _still _made her sick to her stomach. After she'd gotten the bare necessities out of him, she'd decided she wouldn't ever pressure him into talking about it again. Kiku only wanted to help him, and if he wasn't ready to talk about it, then she decided she'd just have to learn to live with that.

"Come with me," Yusaku said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It's not fair to keep you in the dark."

The way he said that made her think that he was speaking from personal experience. Kiku wasn't about to risk him taking back his kindness, however, and let it pass without question. "Thank you," she told him, trying hard not to get too emotional. "Thank you so much."

* * *

"Who is this?" Were the first words out of Ryoken's mouth when he opened the door, his eyes zeroing in on the short girl standing next to Yusaku on the outside of the house.

Before Yusaku could even open his mouth, the girl pushed herself in front of him, staring up at Ryoken as if she wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "My name is Kiku Kamishirakawa," she said without hesitation. "I'm Takeru's best friend, and I've come here for answers."

Ryoken's gaze shifted from her to Yusaku, who shrugged helplessly. "You told me to go to school," he said, as if that explained everything.

Opening the door wider, Ryoken had already known that evening was going to go poorly. Since his conversation with Yusaku the night before, the pain in his head had been growing and growing. When Jin and Miyu stepped in to his residence stiff and not speaking, it had only gotten worse. What was one more variable that he couldn't predict?

"We don't have time for this," he hissed to himself, shaking his head as he closed to door behind Yusaku and the newcomer. Was this some sort of backlash against forcing Yusaku to go to school? He couldn't tell, based on the way the younger boy was acting, but Ryoken decided he wouldn't dwell on it at the moment. If he didn't have time to catch someone up, he certainly didn't have time to be thinking through everything Yusaku did or didn't do.

As they walked, Ryoken stared at Kiku, trying to figure out what to make of the girl. In a way, she _did _remind him of what he knew of Homura - she had a fiery spirit, and seemed fairly straightforward in her ways. She didn't bother to introduce herself properly, or even linger on the greeting at all; instead getting straight to why she was invading his home. A glance at her wrist however told him that she wasn't a duelist, which would do them no good on their search.

In a way, it was a good thing. Ryoken didn't want to involve any more people if possible. He already couldn't sleep properly because of Jin and Miyu. Part of him wanted to just send her home and let Homura deal with it once he was requested, but he knew he couldn't do that. There were too many complications with that, and he also saw a bit of himself in her actions.

Once upon a time he, too, had tried to help some children without understanding what was going on, because he cared. Knowing that, Ryoken knew he couldn't turn her away. Even if she couldn't duel, maybe she could help them in their efforts somewhere else. And even if she couldn't be of _use, _Ryoken knew he still would keep her at least in the loop.

Homura could never say he'd never done anything for him after this.

Once everyone was in the same room, Miyu and Jin still not speaking at all, Ryoken heaved a sigh. "You," he said, turning to face the new girl who claimed to be Takeru's friend. "I am going to set up a meeting between you and Akira Zaizen," he decided. It was a good way to not only keep another innocent person out of danger, but also fulfill her request. "He will fill you in on everything."

He would have to grab her a duel disk, but that was no matter. He had plenty of unused ones that he tested his programs on before installing into his and the other Knights around still, he was sure.

Kiku gave him a grateful look, and Ryoken almost felt sick. He didn't deserve that kind of gratitude at all. "Thank you so much," she said, clapping her hands together. The wave of nausea in Ryoken's stomach got worse, and he forced himself to look away.

"As for the rest of us," Ryoken continued, sweeping his gaze across the room so he didn't have to look too long at any of them, "we will carry on as usual. _Do not_," he hissed, "start a duel without alerting us over the voice comms. We will not have a repeat of before."

Miyu, who had looked dead since the moment she arrived with Pandor and Jin, didn't even flinch as she usually would. Just nodded dejectedly, and Ryoken forced down the sick feeling he was getting from looking at her too long.

"Are we clear?" Nobody gave a response, but it would have to do. "I will go get Kiku a duel disc. We will log in momentarily."

He left the room, not bothering to explain to Kiku why she needed one if she was to be meeting with Akira - Yusaku or anyone else could do that. He didn't have the patience for it that day. Walking away also gave his stomach a moment to calm down, and Ryoken was glad for the first time in weeks that he was to spending his day in the network. Much as he used to - and still did, to an extent - loathe how much people relied on Link VRAINS, he was starting to hate having a physical body. At least, when there were things to get done.

And they had a long night ahead of them.

* * *

"Is he always like that?" Kiku asked once she was sure the white haired boy was out of ear shot, looking to Yusaku in confusion. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but everyone in the room looked like they had seen better days. Much as she wanted to be up to speed, she could only hope whoever that Akira Zaizen was would help her out.

If he didn't, then there would be a problem. However, Kiku would have faith for the time being. These were all people Takeru knew, supposedly. He wouldn't hang out with untrustworthy people, she hoped.

Yusaku shrugged, frowning a bit. "I don't know what he's thinking," he said, shaking his head. "I wish I did."

The words sounded so sad, Kiku couldn't help but frown with him. Whatever was going on was clearly draining on everyone, and while she couldn't help but grow more worried by the second, she could also take a moment to be sympathetic towards Yusaku. Whoever Ryoken was, he was obviously important to the boy.

She had been a little put off about not getting answers immediately, but the longer she stared at the room, the more she kind of understood. Hopefully her confusion would be cleared up, but Kiku had known going into Den City that there was likely something horrible going on behind the scenes. Everything around her seemingly proved that.

"I'll do my best to help with Akira Zaizen," she said, changing the subject so Yusaku didn't have to linger. The other two in the room - Jin and Miyu, Yusaku had told her - didn't so much as blink in her direction, so she ignored them too. Later, when things had smoothed out a bit, she would try to talk to them, too.

Soon enough she would know what has happened to Takeru, and would hopefully be able to help in some manner. That would have to be good enough for now.

"Are you all ready?" Yusaku asked, and she watched as both Jin and Miyu looked at him. He didn't say anything more, instead just waiting for something from them. They both nodded, but Yusaku frowned deeper at whatever it was he didn't get. "Don't be stupid out there today," he said, voice heavy. "We can't afford it."

* * *

It was unsettling, almost, the way that Miyu refused to speak. Normally, Jin knew, she was talkative. Always trying to get inside his head and get him to…well, that part he wasn't terribly sure of, but Miyu was an outspoken person. She was always full of energy - whether that energy was poured into fighting with him or into finding her friend it didn't matter.

In comparison to that, she was a walking corpse that day.

He knew Yusaku and Ryoken both had noticed it earlier, and Pandor likely had as well, even if none of them had commented on it. While they were speeding through Link VRAINS all alone, however, Jin couldn't find a reason to keep his mouth shut.

"What's up with you?" Jin asked her, making sure his voice carried over the sounds of their D-Boards. Even with it going, the silence felt all encompassing, and for whatever reason, it was putting him on edge.

Though he was in front of her, he didn't turn around to see her expression. A part of him wanted to, very badly, but Jin had a feeling she'd be less likely to talk if he did that.

It took a moment, but he finally heard a sigh. "I'm fine," Miyu replied, though she sounded anything _but_.

There was nothing. Her voice, Jin realized, was completely devoid of anything. It sounded hollow, especially when he thought of the way she fought with him the day before. Though he didn't understand why, it made him want to turn around. It made him want to bother her, to do _something _to get her to look at him the way she had in the car the day before; the way she looked at him when she was _angry_.

The fleeting thought from the previous night hadn't gone away. The idea that Miyu somehow looked _nice _when she was scowling at him and angry that he didn't get it - whatever _it _was - had ignited something within him, and thought it was nothing but a candle in the wind at the moment, Jin had a feeling it could be something. Would be something, the more time they spent together.

"Doesn't seem like it," Jin said, not expecting anything more out of her. He wanted to get her to react, but didn't know _how_. Half the time he set her off, he didn't even know what she was angry about.

Truthfully, he still didn't even know what their small fight in the car had been about. She'd said something about how he shouldn't have to have gone through an experience to care about it happening, but Jin simply couldn't get where she was coming from. The reason, after all, she was so concerned about Aoi was because she remembered being in Aoi's position.

"What do you know?" He barely heard Miyu over the sound of their D-Boards. "Not like it matters, anyways."

* * *

After once again failing to defeat Ai, Pandor was shocked that Revolver had even let her back into Link VRAINS. It was understandable, to a degree. There small team was lacking on manpower, and while she wasn't exactly the best duelist, she was competent. And on top of that, she was artificial. There was no reason to fear her dying. Nothing of importance would be lost, and Revolver could always reinstall her from one of the backup drives he meticulously kept.

Now that she was standing - riding - face to face with Roboppy, however, Pandor was glad. Truthfully, she hadn't really cared one way or another originally. She would fulfill whatever role was expected of her, regardless of what it was.

"I can't believe Revolver really made you," Roboppy said as means of greeting, marveling at her without care. "Do you really have free will?"

_Do you? _She almost wanted to say. The very idea that the Ignis had turned a mere cleaning robot into a fully functional AI with free will like the Ignis was ridiculous, but it was staring her right in the face. "It's limited, unlike the Ignis," she finally said, seeing no reason to lie. "But yes, it is free will."

What a complicated topic free will was. Maybe it was due to the way she was coded, but she had no issue with the fact that she was designed with human safety in mind. It was the smart thing to do - the Ignis were proof of what could happen if creatures as smart as humankind could run amok.

"That's not free will then," Roboppy said, frowning and crossing their arms. "If you're not allowed to make your own decisions on people, that's not fair!"

Pandor didn't particularly care about fair or not. How much of that was her coding, she wasn't sure, but that didn't matter to her. She understood exactly _why _she was designed this way, and had no problem with it. Ai made her think… think about where she wanted to be and where she wanted to go, but she didn't need to fix her programming to accomplish that.

"That doesn't matter to me," she settled on replying. "Who I am and what I think isn't dependent on humans. I'm sorry your thoughts are."

The last part she meant in all sincerity, but she could see that Roboppy did not take it the same way at all. The cleaning robot practically snarled at her, an expression she wasn't expecting to see - from the data Pandor had collected on Roboppy, the AI was generally pretty light hearted and seemed to be very casual and relaxed. In the duel they defeated Blood Shepherd and Ghost Girl in, they acted akin to a child.

The way their face was contorting now did not line up with that image, and Pandor braced herself. She was beginning to learn that she couldn't rely on data for everything, regardless of how capable her program was at analyzing it.

Bringing their arm down, Roboppy turned away from her, already speeding off. "I'll show you how superior I am to your lame coding!" They called out, and Pandor had a bad, bad feeling of what was to come. "Let's duel!"

However, she was not going to back down. She had already failed her mission twice. She would not fail it again. "Let's duel," she agreed, chasing after the once cleaning robot with purpose.

* * *

**Notes**

No dueling this time around, but we'll be back to that next chapter! With the end of this chapter, we are officially halfway through with this fic. Kind of crazy! Hopefully my next update doesn't come quite so late, I'm so sorry about that. Anyways, ironically, the easiest part of this to write was Miyu's hospital room scene. I wrote that whole section in under an hour, lmao.

Anyways, I'll see you all again soon! Probably. Maybe. In January, at least pff. Thank you as always for reading!


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